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What Now, Bill? This will be the last post I make “about” me. Every author I’ve read seems to leave at least a few clues as to what they’re about in their writing, even if the piece has absolutely nothing to do with them. If one is paying attention, it is often not too difficult to determine what they might be revealing about themselves, so if anyone wants to know anything about me, they will…

America Is a Free-Fire Zone

Happy Birthday, America! Eat hot death. Today was the 4th of July, so we’ve been treated to several days of fireworks, set off by the municipality last night and a bunch of individual freedom-loving patriots the rest of the time. I’ve grown to hate the way we celebrate this holiday, and the dogs are miserable when it rolls around each year. When I was a kid, I used to love going to see the…

Cut Out All That Macho S**t and Learn How to Play Guitar I’m learning to play the guitar. After wanting to learn how to play for most of my adult life, I’m finally taking John Mellencamp’s advice and learning how to play. It was about one year ago last week that I began lessons with a teacher here in Traverse City, and I would personally say that I have made moderate progress. (My wife would…

Little Lyin’ Man

Another Song Got Me to Thinking, “Little Lion Man” by Mumford & Sons Weep for yourself, my man,You’ll never be what is in your heartWeep little lion man,You’re not as brave as you were at the startRate yourself and rake yourself,Take all the courage you have leftWasted on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head Chorus But it was not your fault but mineAnd it was your heart on…

From William to Genesius

Life as a Proddy This is my 59th year on the planet, which I will recognize officially in July. Growing up in southeastern Michigan, most of my neighborhood was composed of Catholics and Protestants, of which my family belonged to the latter group. All I knew growing up is that some of the Catholic kids went to the school at St. Sebastian’s, attended Catechism—which we pronounced “catty…

I Shoulda Known Better

Never Realized What a Kiss Could Be As I begin to find myself closer these days to the end than to the beginning, I’ve become even more prone to self-reflection than I used to be when I was still young. While it’s been a long and winding road from then till now, I’m finding that often I should have known better. (Sorry for that—I’ve been watching the “Get Back” mini-series and kind of have the…

I Shoulda Known Better

Never Realized What a Kiss Could Be As I begin to find myself closer these days to the end than to the beginning, I’ve become even more prone to self-reflection than I used to be when I was still young. While it’s been a long and winding road from then till now, I’m finding that often I should have known better. (Sorry for that—I’ve been watching the “Get Back” mini-series and kind of have the…

I Shoulda Known Better

As I begin to find myself closer these days to the end than to the beginning, I’ve become even more prone to self-reflection than I used to be when I was still young. While it’s been a long and winding road from then till now, I’m finding that often I should have known better. (Sorry for that—I’ve been watching the “Get Back” mini-series and kind of have the Beatles on the brain.) I’ve made so…

My Life…And Yours

Old Man no Longer on the Road I turned 58 a few months ago. It doesn’t seem like a significant number, I guess, and it doesn’t really hold any special importance for me, to be completely honest. And yet, at the same time, it really feels as though I have run into some sort of an internal milestone. Part of this is due to having stepped away from the workforce a few years before I normally would…

From “Rags” to Riches

From “Rags”… It’s really hard to start this essay. Though I knew what I wanted to call it before I began writing it, putting a proper beginning on it has proven to be a bit challenging. This is at least the third attempt to compose something of meaning out of the death of James “Papa Rags” Ragland, taken from us by cancer on March 14, 2021. I don’t know if it’s the pain and suffering inflicted…

I Don’t Talk to Nobody

8/16/2021 It’s Been a While I don’t talk to nobody these days. That wasn’t always the case. Way back in high school, I was the runner-up for Class Flirt, according to someone who said they had knowledge of the results. I suppose it’s true, but how would I know otherwise? Not only did I have a lot to say, but it seemed I was always chatting up a female student to determine if there was any…

What Has Happened to Us?

Last Year Was a Bad Year We all thought that 2020 was the worst it could ever get. Holy smokes. Have you been watching the news? Of course you have. What a stupid question. I suppose I could ask which network’s broadcast you usually watch, but that’s a whole different kettle of fish. What the hell is going on in our country? We had what many have described as an attempted coup on Wednesday;…

When we walked in, most of my family was already there. Though we had driven all day, both of my sisters and my brother Sandy’s wife had arrived either the night before or earlier today. Sara’s mother, Laura–more like a full-fledged sister than a sister-in-law–seemed to be in remarkably good spirits, considering what my niece was going through. I know now that she was just doing her damnedest to…

Protest about inequality is as American as it gets. As I once heard my man Bruce say, “No one is free unless everyone is free.” I’m sure he was paraphrasing someone else, but it has always stuck with me.

As a kid, the Fourth of July meant fireworks and red-white-and-blue and birthday cake for my sister; now that I’m an adult, the meaning is less simple for me, and I can see that things are…

All right, don’t panic…I’m standing more than six feet away from you as you read this. You have nothing to fear. (Well, that can of pop at your elbow…have you thoroughly disinfected that, and then washed your hands like you were about to perform surgery? No? Go ahead. I’ll wait.)

It’s like we live in a whole new country, isn’t it? Or a time of love and cholera without the love. Or at the very…