December 2007

Happy Holidays to You and Yours,

We’ve come to the end of another good year and we hope that this note finds you in good…

How many times have you killed somebody, only to realize a few hours, days or weeks later, that you missed one stink'n detail and now the whole pile of caca is smoldering on the doorstep (of your keyboard) while you waste a lot of time and energy backtracking to cover your (antagonist's) ass and (metephorically) hiring a silk-shark to keep the local police force (your agent/editor) at bay?

You should'da been at Forensics University in St Louis! Imagine sitting at the bar with a board…

"See how the design of the gun seduces your finger, drawing it toward the trigger? For your own safety and the safety of those around you, you must resist its temptation."

In a small, paneled classroom at the Bulls Eye Shooting Range, in St Louis, MO. we are learning the proper way to handle a handgun from a man who depends on his skills with such weapons for more than his daily bread. In the course of teaching us the difference between a single action, double action and automatic…

Tanka 5.0

Cold merciless rain

strips the shapely…

If man were meant to fly....

I think the Flat-Earth society has taken over commercial air transportation. I am willing to stipulate that I am one of the way-too-impatient, way-too-intollerant, gnat-on-crack-attention-span-blessed common folk. That being said, it seems to be a sad state of affairs when the best thing you can say for flying coach is that you survived.

The airline employees are not to blame. They work hard, with little support. They face a frustrated…

My eighteen-month old pup, Ruby, is a better killer than any I have yet to manufacture. She acts without hesitation, commits to every effort and never displays guilt or morale conflict. Last month’s rabbit picked the wrong corner of the yard for an exit. Tuesday’s chipmunk stayed too long at the bird feeder. July 4, that grackle just misjudged an excited yellow lab’s vertical leap. As the bodies pile up, I‘m stuck…

Tuesday night I chaperoned the Mayor’s Youth Action Council (MYAC) event called “Grill-Fest.” There were more than 300 teens and young adults at one of our community parks. The MYAC kids scheduled a skateboard and BMX bicycle stunt contest at the skateboard park and five bands at the shelter. I taught them about planned spontaneity by having them set up a…

I will be taking a break from my intermittent comments for a while. My day job is about to take over my life. For the next few weeks I am prepping 45 summer workers for 8 to 10 week jobs. It is one of my favorite times of the year. All potential-no regrets, but it sucks the creative juices out of me. I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend. As a slightly conflicted, liberal who has worked for the military-industrial complex, I leave you with Churchill's, "Never give in; never,…

I recently spent a morning writing poetry with fourth grade students from Hawthorn Hills Elementary School. My goal was to get them to give their senses a voice. Mother Nature cooperated with a beautiful day. We began outside with a five-senses scavenger hunt. Seven teams of five went out to the playground to "collect" and record what they saw, felt, heard, smelled and (imagined) they tasted.

Their task was to write down the best description of their sense-by-sense experience before…

It has been a great institute so far. I snagged a parking spot right behind the hotel and haven't been that lucky in three years. I thought that would be the highlight ntil Friday when a poem I submitted placed third in the institute contest. That was great. The opening agents' forum addressed the roll that "platform" plays in branding your name. There was a good discussion of the rise and fall of certain genre, but the agents reassured the audience that good writing, in the hands of a good…

Here, April is a month-long tease leading up to spring. Backyards and ball diamonds are barely functional and most city streets still wear the sand and salt scars of the annual war with winter. The daylight stays longer, grows stronger, but athletes and intellectuals, alike, struggle to reclaim their edge.…