At around 12:30 on the morning of February 15, 2001, I sat down at my computer, opened my word processing package and began to type. I was emotionally drained, exhausted and still a bit tipsy – despite a cold night drive. A very foolish cold night drive. I was compelled to write everything I needed … Continue reading I Never Wrote the Most Important Story I Ever Wrote, Part 1
Category: My life
Everyone has an abortion story to tell. Here are Nell’s and mine.
If this article is correct, the Supreme Court of the United States (“Supreme Court”) is on the verge of voting to overturn both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1973 and 1992 decisions, respectively, which guaranteed women access to abortion everywhere in the United States as a Constitutional right. Overturning Roe and … Continue reading Everyone has an abortion story to tell. Here are Nell’s and mine.
Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 3
In June and September of 2021, I wrote the first two essays in a series on the evolution of the methods I use to rank my favorite tracks (a term I prefer to “songs”). These essays presented the history of the 309 individual “mix” cassettes, videocassettes and CDs I constructed between August 1981 and August … Continue reading Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 3
The invasion of Ukraine is personal for me…as it is for many of us
We are all gripped – feeling both horror at Russian president Vladimir Putin and immense pride in the strength of the Ukrainians – by the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Readers of this website are likely aware of my personal connections to the sovereign democratic nation of Ukraine. My mother’s father – the man who became … Continue reading The invasion of Ukraine is personal for me…as it is for many of us
Crafting the “Soundtrack” to my Interrogating Memory book
In 2005, Rupert Holmes published his second novel, a murder mystery called Swing. Being, well, Rupert Holmes, he also wrote and recorded an accompanying seven-track CD of swing-inflected music; both are well worth finding. The combination, meanwhile, led him to quip, “I’ve been singing songs from my new book.” In the past month, I received … Continue reading Crafting the “Soundtrack” to my Interrogating Memory book
HIGH FIDELITY: A misogynistic example of how NOT to interrogate memory
I recently dissected my romantic history in the context of the film Beautiful Girls. Readers are thus aware I had two serious college girlfriends, one of whom I dated freshman year; this was 1984-85. She spent the spring break of what was her sophomore year in either Manhattan or East Hampton – where she saw … Continue reading HIGH FIDELITY: A misogynistic example of how NOT to interrogate memory
Another Surrealist Epic Post-Thanksgiving Poem
I begin with a correction: the following epic poem is technically Dadaist, not Surrealist. Two years ago…well, two years ago everything was different. Outside of places like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”), almost nobody had ever heard of COVID-19. The race for the 2020 Democratic … Continue reading Another Surrealist Epic Post-Thanksgiving Poem
Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 2
In late June, I wrote the first in a series of essays outlining the evolution of the methods I use to rank my favorite tracks (a term I prefer to “songs”), beginning with my first-ever mix cassette tape in August 1981. In the interim, however, moving to a new apartment, the ongoing search for a … Continue reading Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 2
My Book INTERROGATING MEMORY: FILM NOIR SPURS A DEEP DIVE INTO MY FAMILY HISTORY…AND MY OWN Is Now Available For Purchase!!
My first book launched on May 24, 2022 under my imprint InterrogatingMemory Press (IM Press), courtesy of the print-on-demand service BookBaby. It is available in hardback and as an e-Book (with full color photographs) on Amazon, BookBaby and other online retailers. You may also purchase a hardback copy directly through this website - while supplies … Continue reading My Book INTERROGATING MEMORY: FILM NOIR SPURS A DEEP DIVE INTO MY FAMILY HISTORY…AND MY OWN Is Now Available For Purchase!!
Grappling With the Instinctive – and Unnecessary – Fictionalization of History
I recently watched Michael Mann’s Public Enemies for the first time since its 2009 theatrical release. Based on Bryan Burrough’s excellent 2004 book of the same name, it narrows the focus of the sprawling book to the cat-and-mouse game played by bank robber John Dillinger and Melvin Purvis, special agent in charge of the Chicago … Continue reading Grappling With the Instinctive – and Unnecessary – Fictionalization of History
Just Bear With Me... 