Suprise Me

When I graduated high school in 1974, I was a bit of an arrogant little shit. Read More

  Supermarkets, those sprawling temples of consumerism, have been a fixture in our lives for over a century. From the first Piggly Wiggly in Memphis to the sprawling mega-stores of today, these retail behemoths have witnessed countless triumphs and tribulations. While most of our supermarket experiences are routine and unremarkable, there are those occasional encounters… Read More

He bought us ice cream and pretended to scold us when we stuck out our tongues to lick our cones. When we sat next to him with food on our plates, he'd look surprised and point at something behind us. We'd turn around to look, and he'd have taken a bite of our sandwich. His big blue eyes gave nothing away--he was innocent! Read More

But that food! I never knew everything imaginable could be fried. Read More

Made nervous by being alone in a deserted lab building on an actual dark and stormy night, Gina, a grad student working in her lab downstairs, came up to my lab seeking company in the now spooky and very dark building. Read More

A birth, a death, a national election, or even someone new that you meet by chance, can turn your life upside down and make it so much better or worse. Read More

Laughing Gas and the Chestnut Tree When I was growing up we lived on a shady street in the Bronx.   Several doctors and dentists had offices on our block and my dad was one of them.   He was a GP who practiced on the ground floor of our three-story house and we lived… Read More

At age 92, there was no treatment for him; usually the end would come from some infection his blood cells could no longer fight off. When?  Maybe a month or two, max.  Maybe tomorrow.  No one knew. He got very quiet and then said, “Oh.  I guess I had better make some phone calls.” Read More

What line must be crossed for there to be no inappropriate time or place? Read More

What I do remember from my early teen years is being the Den Mother for my youngest brother’s Cub Scout pack. Read More