Category Archives: Splendor!

Of all the first ladies of my lifetime, I like Melania Trump best – elegant dignified silence. And of all of the women in public life right now, she’s the one who seems most to embody Yael, too, the wife … Continue reading →

Hope is family. Family is hope.That’s why trains go in circles.Brother Willie has been writing choo-choo train stories for two years now. The first collection of them publishes today. It’s called “Traindancing: Bedtime stories for your inner child from The … Continue reading →

My friend James Pruitt fingered this news photo, source unknown to me, and this is my subsequent crop of the image – cropping to the action that matters to me. You see the Rockwell right away, of course, and the … Continue reading →

There but for the grace of fortune go you.The headline isn’t even a challenge: I did it Saturday. I left most of the work on Harvey’s desk, but I showed you how the man can still be lovable and human, … Continue reading →

Flip around the TV dial. Early morning, Sunday morning, your local religious-broadcasting affiliate, cable channels. Try to find another nerd televangelist. There are nerd Baptists and nerd Catholics, sitting behind desks and reading from books. But a nerd bible-thumper is … Continue reading →

“Is there anything else people can do at casinos – besides, you know, winning?”I was working on a farce set in Las Vegas when the town got shot up. It’s a Willie story, a #MyKindOfBenedy called “Las Vegas Redemption: Pastor Trey … Continue reading →

“Don’t let it kill you, baby.Don’t let it get to you.Don’t let it kill you, baby.Don’t let it get to you.I’ll be your bleedin’ heart.I’ll be your cryin’ fool.Don’t let this go too far.Don’t let it get to you…”Photo by: … Continue reading →

So here’s a theory of the crime for Sunday night’s Massacre at Mandalay Bay. No, that’s over-stating things. What I have is less a theory than a backstory, a way of explaining how this could have happened. This is all … Continue reading →

You are a free moral agent as a manifestation of your nature as a human being, and there is nothing I can do to contravene or negate or obviate your sovereign freedom.Photo by: swong95765Let’s start with this idea: You are a … Continue reading →

Definitely not a super-villain.How can regional malls survive Amazon.com? By providing on-site residential and employment opportunities for their own clientele. Cities worked when everyday errands had to be walkable. Suburbs worked when driving was unavoidable. Uber and Amazon work because … Continue reading →

Robin Sparkles wasn’t wrong, just early:“Let’s go to the mall! Today!”Retail is dying. Movie theaters are dying. Schools and churches are dying. The world outside the home, especially the world of sociability among strangers, is shrinking, shriveling, vanishing. It’s not … Continue reading →

Labor Day is a holiday established by people who hate human productivity, who hate the human mind. It is a day set aside on the calendar to celebrate and sanctify indolence – and violence.Photo by: Karen HortonThis is me looking … Continue reading →

Driven-sociability. It’s not just worth reading about: It’s how we survive.The curse of long holiday weekends is that time can hang heavy on your hands. Still worse, every source of new online content goes off for it’s own bar-be-que. Apparently, … Continue reading →