Back in the hippie days I acquired a white Stetson 5X Beaver cowboy hat. It had been a gift to a big-headed man. As it did fit me, it was convenient to us both. I flattened the brim, pushed the top out round, and put a feather in it. I had a vision of some…
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Back in the hippie days I acquired a white Stetson 5X Beaver cowboy hat. It had been a gift to a big-headed man. As it did fit me, it was convenient to us both. I flattened the brim, pushed the top out round, and put a feather in it. I had a vision of some…
Read More
At 53, if someone had asked me who Vincent Van Gogh was, I’d have said, “he’s the guy who cut off his ear.” Shortly after my first divorce, I took a lady on a date to the Getty; see some art and go to dinner. We looked at paintings of famous old dead men and…
Read More
Each time I see a street fair I think to myself that a clever vendor should have a sign that says: STOCK UP FOR YOUR NEXT YARD SALE !!!
Read More
Never get in a fight with the youngest kid in his family. It took years to make that deduction. Finally, it came to me when someone said, “My big sister hits harder than that.” I was the oldest in my family. Not only could I not take a punch, but I was afraid of hurting…
Read More
Unkie (Aunts and Uncles) My uncle was a sailor in the war. I called him Unkie. My earliest memories of him had him in that dark blue wool uniform with the white cap; the square shoulder flap like a small cape. Since our extended family treated him with such respect, I did too.…
Read More
Fragrant Flashbacks I was in my teens—so many things I didn’t understand. So many aspects of life that I did because I thought I should or I did because I was compelled. And I was too close to myself for perspective, so all I could do was respond…
Read More
4-7-20 Last night, my dream wizard had me working in a voting station. I looked up and a woman pulled her blouse back and flashed me. While that might seem like a nice dream wizard move, this one was different. The woman flashed her scar from a mastectomy. And her blank look portrayed…
Read More
In the early 1950’s, my grandmother lived along the highway between Palm Springs and Los Angeles. She raised chickens and sold sold fryers on ice and eggs. Between her wood-slatted hen houses were two eucalyptus stumps. One stump was my haven from the headless chickens that ran flapping and spurting blood. I was Caesar, fascinated…
Read More
In the early 60’s, I had a morning newspaper route. In five years, only a couple people didn’t pay their subscription. Honor was still a virtue. But one man didn’t pay and then moved. On collection days when I knocked on his door, even with his car in the driveway, no one answered. I was…
Read More
When I was five years old, my grandmother got me a Saturday job with her neighbor, Mrs. Madison. My job was to help collect eggs and feed the chickens. I scattered grain and filled the water cans. I didn’t collect eggs from any hens that pecked at my hands. I did carry the basket, but only…
Read More
Grad Night 1968. Disneyland hosted an all-night grad night for high school seniors in South California. About twenty classmates and I dropped LSD for the first time, on the bus to The Magic Kingdom. The little pills were called Blue Flats. Pharmaceutical. Word was they were made at UCLA.…
Read More
Susan B Coombs Jr. High School. Seventh Grade. Miss Davies. Homeroom. We were given a woodcut/Rorschach image to view, then write a poem. I don’t remember the poem. But Miss Davies told the class that we had a fine writer and poet in our class, then read my poem. My ears blazed. I felt like…
Read More
For years, I subscribed to Omni magazine. They gave me concrete visions of the future, belief in possibility. While The Twilight Zone freed my imagination, Omni told me who was working on what and how it would affect us all. When new technology became available, I’d been expecting it. Like The Sun, it became a…
Read More
Whatever high-pitched motor was driving me faded to a kind of thrum--something like my heartbeat.
Read More
Honest Work Working as a carpenter was the most honest work I have ever done. In the beginning, I saved for the family that hadn’t yet materialized. Later, I left the house treading softly with babies snuffling familiar scents. My wife always got up with me, made me breakfast, handed me a lunch. Those…
Read More
Windows fogged, bad shocks rocking, breathing like final breaths on a battlefield, bucket seats belong on kayaks, Danny Kaye got rich and nobody knew what he looked like.
Read More
Even though I received a formal invitation to participate in the Viet Nam war, I declined.
Read More
Cadaver Lab Formaldehyde Shiny floors And two black bags with zippers Awaiting parturition I sought secrets revealed by the dead A sexy professor with smooth skin Pulled round the zippers And let in the light Illuminating a brain behind the skull A heart behind the breast A…
Read More
On Mr. Toad’s Ride, I was killed by a freight train. But Small World put me back together.
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Eighth graders took PE, but we didn’t shower. Freshmen in high school showered. Fifty years later, that seems no big deal. But. The summer before my freshman year, I still didn’t have hair on my balls. Determination was my long suit, my key to success. I willed hair to grow on my balls. It didn’t…
Read More
In 1953 I would have been five. Gas was something like, 19.9 cents a gallon. It smelled good wafting in the window while the attendant washed the windows. The attendant I remember was giving a lecture into our Plymouth. My mom, a recent war bride from England sat beside my father. My little sister and I…
Read More
First day My mom looked down into the box camera. I smiled from the first step of the bus. I wore a green wool sweater. I tilted my head down a little. And I wonder what kind of boy I’d been if I’d have had my chin up and…
Read More
Food These days a food phenomenon might involve kale and chia seeds. In the mid 50’s our family loaded up the Plymouth and drove twenty-five miles to McDonalds. Hamburgers were 19 cents. We split an order of fries and I got my own bone-chilling chocolate shake. Eisenhower was President, America had the atomic bomb,…
Read More
Hats
Prompted By Hats
/ Stories
Back in the hippie days I acquired a white Stetson 5X Beaver cowboy hat. It had been a gift to a big-headed man. As it did fit me, it was convenient to us both. I flattened the brim, pushed the top out round, and put a feather in it. I had a vision of some…
Read More
Vincent
Prompted By Art and Art Museums
/ Stories
At 53, if someone had asked me who Vincent Van Gogh was, I’d have said, “he’s the guy who cut off his ear.” Shortly after my first divorce, I took a lady on a date to the Getty; see some art and go to dinner. We looked at paintings of famous old dead men and…
Read More
Yard Sales
Prompted By Yard Sales
/ Stories
Each time I see a street fair I think to myself that a clever vendor should have a sign that says: STOCK UP FOR YOUR NEXT YARD SALE !!!
Read More
Untitled
Prompted By Birth Order
/ Stories
Never get in a fight with the youngest kid in his family. It took years to make that deduction. Finally, it came to me when someone said, “My big sister hits harder than that.” I was the oldest in my family. Not only could I not take a punch, but I was afraid of hurting…
Read More
Unkie
Prompted By Aunts & Uncles
/ Stories
Unkie (Aunts and Uncles) My uncle was a sailor in the war. I called him Unkie. My earliest memories of him had him in that dark blue wool uniform with the white cap; the square shoulder flap like a small cape. Since our extended family treated him with such respect, I did too.…
Read More
Fragrant Flashbacks
Prompted By Fragrant Flashbacks
/ Stories
Fragrant Flashbacks I was in my teens—so many things I didn’t understand. So many aspects of life that I did because I thought I should or I did because I was compelled. And I was too close to myself for perspective, so all I could do was respond…
Read More
My Dream Wizard (again)
Prompted By Dreams
/ Stories
4-7-20 Last night, my dream wizard had me working in a voting station. I looked up and a woman pulled her blouse back and flashed me. While that might seem like a nice dream wizard move, this one was different. The woman flashed her scar from a mastectomy. And her blank look portrayed…
Read More
Grandma Anna
Prompted By Grandparents & Grandchildren
/ Stories
In the early 1950’s, my grandmother lived along the highway between Palm Springs and Los Angeles. She raised chickens and sold sold fryers on ice and eggs. Between her wood-slatted hen houses were two eucalyptus stumps. One stump was my haven from the headless chickens that ran flapping and spurting blood. I was Caesar, fascinated…
Read More
Oh, those eggs?
Prompted By Pranks and Practical Jokes
/ Stories
In the early 60’s, I had a morning newspaper route. In five years, only a couple people didn’t pay their subscription. Honor was still a virtue. But one man didn’t pay and then moved. On collection days when I knocked on his door, even with his car in the driveway, no one answered. I was…
Read More
Mrs. Madison
Prompted By My First Paycheck
/ Stories
When I was five years old, my grandmother got me a Saturday job with her neighbor, Mrs. Madison. My job was to help collect eggs and feed the chickens. I scattered grain and filled the water cans. I didn’t collect eggs from any hens that pecked at my hands. I did carry the basket, but only…
Read More
Grad Night
Prompted By 1968
/ Stories
Grad Night 1968. Disneyland hosted an all-night grad night for high school seniors in South California. About twenty classmates and I dropped LSD for the first time, on the bus to The Magic Kingdom. The little pills were called Blue Flats. Pharmaceutical. Word was they were made at UCLA.…
Read More
teachers
Prompted By Teachers & Mentors
/ Stories
Susan B Coombs Jr. High School. Seventh Grade. Miss Davies. Homeroom. We were given a woodcut/Rorschach image to view, then write a poem. I don’t remember the poem. But Miss Davies told the class that we had a fine writer and poet in our class, then read my poem. My ears blazed. I felt like…
Read More
Omni
Prompted By What We Read
/ Stories
For years, I subscribed to Omni magazine. They gave me concrete visions of the future, belief in possibility. While The Twilight Zone freed my imagination, Omni told me who was working on what and how it would affect us all. When new technology became available, I’d been expecting it. Like The Sun, it became a…
Read More
Relax
Prompted By Marijuana
/ Stories
Whatever high-pitched motor was driving me faded to a kind of thrum--something like my heartbeat.
Read More
Honest Work
Prompted By Working
/ Stories
Honest Work Working as a carpenter was the most honest work I have ever done. In the beginning, I saved for the family that hadn’t yet materialized. Later, I left the house treading softly with babies snuffling familiar scents. My wife always got up with me, made me breakfast, handed me a lunch. Those…
Read More
Danny Kaye
Prompted By Drive-Ins
/ Stories
Windows fogged, bad shocks rocking, breathing like final breaths on a battlefield, bucket seats belong on kayaks, Danny Kaye got rich and nobody knew what he looked like.
Read More
War and Remembrance
Prompted By The Draft & Vietnam
/ Stories
Even though I received a formal invitation to participate in the Viet Nam war, I declined.
Read More
Cadaver Lab
Prompted By Science
/ Stories
Cadaver Lab Formaldehyde Shiny floors And two black bags with zippers Awaiting parturition I sought secrets revealed by the dead A sexy professor with smooth skin Pulled round the zippers And let in the light Illuminating a brain behind the skull A heart behind the breast A…
Read More
Grad Night
Prompted By Altered States
/ Stories
On Mr. Toad’s Ride, I was killed by a freight train. But Small World put me back together.
Read More
Hair
Prompted By Hair
/ Stories
Eighth graders took PE, but we didn’t shower. Freshmen in high school showered. Fifty years later, that seems no big deal. But. The summer before my freshman year, I still didn’t have hair on my balls. Determination was my long suit, my key to success. I willed hair to grow on my balls. It didn’t…
Read More
lessons
Prompted By Lessons
/ Stories
In 1953 I would have been five. Gas was something like, 19.9 cents a gallon. It smelled good wafting in the window while the attendant washed the windows. The attendant I remember was giving a lecture into our Plymouth. My mom, a recent war bride from England sat beside my father. My little sister and I…
Read More
first day
Prompted By First Day of School
/ Stories
First day My mom looked down into the box camera. I smiled from the first step of the bus. I wore a green wool sweater. I tilted my head down a little. And I wonder what kind of boy I’d been if I’d have had my chin up and…
Read More
food
Prompted By What We Ate
/ Stories
Food These days a food phenomenon might involve kale and chia seeds. In the mid 50’s our family loaded up the Plymouth and drove twenty-five miles to McDonalds. Hamburgers were 19 cents. We split an order of fries and I got my own bone-chilling chocolate shake. Eisenhower was President, America had the atomic bomb,…
Read More