Day 411: Welcome To Nickname City!

originally published February 14, 2013 A city’s nickname holds, in my estimation, no appeal to tourists. Some may possess the kind of staying-power that shortens the legs on advertising execs’ pants, like The Big Apple, The Big Easy, The Easy Apple, The Windy City, or The Big Easy Sister Cities of Brotherly Love Of Wind. […]

Day 410: Charles Fourier – Prototype Hippie

originally published February 13, 2013 You know what really bothers me? The present-day career opportunities for philosophers are remarkably few. Nowadays if you come up with the ideal means for crafting a likely unattainable utopian society, the closest you’ll get to seeing it realized is when you sell the idea to a reality show. But […]

Day 409: Meddling With The Elixir Of Life – The Coffee Chronicles

originally published February 12, 2013 As open-minded as I may be when it comes to matters of food (I’ll subject my palate to almost anything that doesn’t look too Fear Factor-ish), eclectic art (I’m mastered the act of nodding politely) and sex (I once did it with the lights on), I have to admit – […]

Day 408: A Half-Century Of Beatle Gold

originally published February 11, 2013 First off, I’d like to apologize in advance to all members of the baby boomer generation. This article may assist in making you feel old. That said, you’re going to have to get used to the fact that every significant cultural accomplishment of the 1960’s is going to turn 50 […]

Day 407: The Last Laugh

originally published February 10, 2013 In searching for a topic laced with a bit of dark humor today, I stumbled into the concept of laughter. Specifically, deadly laughter. The laughter that starts out as a titter, escalates to a chortle, then finally evolves into an overpriced silk-lined mahogany casket. Sure, the notion of someone ‘dying […]

Day 406: Theme From A Supper Place

originally published February 9, 2013 It’s the weekend, and once again my thoughts turn to food. It’s hard to find time to eat well during the week; after rehearsals, classes, skeet-shooting workshops, extreme hobo-fights, hacky-sack circles, taebo, Lamaze (we aren’t pregnant, just keeping our technique fresh), scuba-suit fittings, volunteering in a shelter for wayward lizards […]

Day 405: Mary Toft, The Woman Who Pulled A Rabbit Out Of… Well, It Wasn’t Her Hat

originally published February 8, 2013 If you ever have doubts about the incredible growth of the medical profession over the last 300 years, remember the story of Mary Toft. Mary was a British peasant woman from Godalming, Surrey. She had three kids, a journeyman clothier husband named Joshua, and not a lot of money. When […]

Day 404: Fire Down Below – The Fried Foundation Of Centralia, PA

originally published February 7, 2013 In researching this 404-day-old project, I have had the opportunity to explore the world, all from the comfort of my computer screen (so, you know, without actually having to leave the comfort of on my ass). Some locales (the island of Nauru) I’m almost curious enough to want to visit […]

Day 403: Sentences From The Depths Of Hell

originally published February 6, 2013 As a writer, I have learned to love words. Specifically, I have learned to make sweet, sweet love to them in kinky and unfathomable ways that would make the Internet itself shut down and tell to join a support group. So when language straps on some weirdness of its own, […]

Day 402: The Size Of The Wand

originally published February 5, 2013 WARNING: The following article may contain sensitive verbiage, mature subject matter and an unhealthy focus on the human dink. Not the dink that raced to cut you off in traffic then slowed down to 15 below the speed limit with his blinker on as though he simply gave up hope […]