A Portrait of the Artist as a Middle-Aged Man
Sean MurphyFifty. Five-0. Fiddy. Half-Century. Five Decades. Old. Actually, one thing I can declare with the certainty of a man undeniably ensconced in middle-age is that, in many significant ways, I…
Murphy’s Laws: 50 Infallible Observations on the Occasion of Turning 50
“With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.” That, from the ever-quotable Oscar Wilde. Does age impart wisdom? Maybe. It definitely provides opinions. Some of them, perhaps, are worthwhile.…
Every Day is Mother’s Day (Revisited)
I’m fortunate, in a sense, to be the type of person that gets more sentimental about the times I read a certain book or heard a particular album than I…
THE ORIGIN AND ANATOMY OF A STORY
Write what you know: at once the best and worst counsel offered to the aspiring fiction writer. It is insufficient, if not too smug and certain, too limiting, and possibly…
April 15, 1985: THE FIGHT (35 Years Later)
IT PROBABLY SAYS SOMETHING about evolution that younger generations see the future as expansive, malleable and positive while the older generations eventually—and inexorably—see the past as safer, simpler and more…
Essay: Backs to the Future
Here's a piece I've returned to several times, since first writing it in 2008. It was inspired by some real-time B.S. involving a true story, and names are withheld to…
1455 RECOMMENDS: YOUR REQUIRED COVID-19 VIEWING (PART TWO)
Following up on our first installment of required viewing, here’s the promised list of movies (some quite appropriate and relevant) to accompany social distancing, working from home, reading, relaxing, and…
1455 RECOMMENDS: YOUR REQUIRED COVID-19 VIEWING
Following up on our recommended reading list, here’s the promised list of movies (some quite appropriate and relevant) to accompany social distancing, working from home, reading, relaxing, and staying both…
1455 RECOMMENDS: A READING LIST
Coming soon: a movie list and, inevitably, some musical suggestions to accompany social distancing, working from home, reading, relaxing, and staying both healthy and sane. But first, some easily recommended books. Disclaimer:…
The (Really) Real McCoy
An absolute giant, musical genius, and the rarest of human beings has departed from a planet that could scarcely contain him. McCoy Tyner is, without question, one of the most…