July brings Laguna Beach’s famous Pageant of the Masters with tableaux vivant: famous art re-created with real people. We had tableaux in the citywide Our History festival with all schools entering a display. I was corralled into two of them. One was The Salem Witch Trial. We froze in place for an eternity as all…
Compass points, as in, “Go north and turn west on Elm” are meaningless to me. In Maine things were clearer: “Go straight and turn left where the Nash dealership used to be.” Now car-less, I rely on kind friends to drive me while I sit and look pretty. How we get there is a mystery….
Clearly I have too much time on my hands. Today, for example, I’ve been hounded by the word “swaddling.” You know, as in clothes, from our bible readings (or not). With my usual will power of steel, I have foresworn the dictionary and have instead played all day with the variations and possible meanings of:…
Many of us remember Elfrida von Nardroff’s wins, Charles Van Doren’s disgrace, Sputnik and Nixon’s dog. Now such once headlined topics are all trivia; good only for the final Jeopardy question. Great memories and understanding of the past are often of no importance to the younger crowd. I, for one, face constant ridicule for…
I phoned an old friend from Tokyo days and had a great time sharing old memories. Sadly the call made me realize how far he had returned to the closet. After retiring and proclaiming he was a farm-boy at heart, he returned to his Nebraska roots and the family ranch 15 miles from the town…
You seldom find me in an LGBT bar since, with a few exceptions, the atmosphere is less than welcoming to senior men and women. These places were once our secret/special areas where we could be ourselves, find friends and lovers, dance together (if the police had been paid off) and escape the hate-filled outsiders. Now,…
As a child of staunch New England Protestants I knew little of Catholics except they were awaiting word from the Pope to take over the country with the stacks of rifles and casks of gun powder hidden in the church basement. My father’s friend swore he had seen them. How and why he was there…
A few Briefs ago I related the story of my partner in my apartment hearing a voice telling him how to resuscitate my antique clock that had stood silent for several months. I’m sure, many of you who have anxiously awaited an update will be happy with the news my beloved timepiece is gonging away…
Does time fly when you’re having fun? It does, and I am as I write this 300th Brief. I try to mix humor with serious suggestions while fitting all into my template of 14 1/2 lines. In the first year with more space, it was easier to write on profound, serious topics like “Mine Is…
“Where did the time go?” Who knows, but it went! What a shock to spot that gorgeous, still undulating lava lamp in a display window and then realize it’s in an antique shop. Likewise, when you alone sing along to “Jail House Rock,” enact the whole Who’s on First or confuse the young around you…
