The Noir of Who: Part 4

I have long been fascinated by “two worlds collided” connections between disparate things. Emblematic of that fascination has been observing the influence of classic-era film noir on the television series Doctor Who, following its resurrection in 2005. Emerging from those observations was the essay “The Noir of Who: Classic Film Noir’s Imprint on the Resurrected … Continue reading The Noir of Who: Part 4 →

Back in, I think, 8th grade English class, we read Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations. A friend of mine (whose mother would later introduce me at his wedding as “her third son”—a high compliment) was so taken with the intricate web of connections between the book’s many characters that he pulled out a piece of … Continue reading The Noir of Who: Backstory and Part 1 →

Choosing the funny and the absurd…

There are very few persons, places or things I outright despise. One of those rare things is St. Valentine’s Day (despite my fascination with what happened that day in Chicago, IL in 1929). I generally believe that cynicism is toxic—but I am irredeemably cynical about this “Hallmark holiday.” My objection to the holiday was originally … Continue reading Choosing the funny and the absurd… →

In which the objective is to get more…personal

I launched my blog on December 19, 2016 with this introductory post. It is ironic (even premonitory), given that I am now writing a book exploring facets of my identity, that I debuted with two radically different versions of my life story. On December 17, 2017 I published this post, my 52nd in 52 weeks, … Continue reading In which the objective is to get more…personal →

Querying the impossible once again….

As readers of this blog know (and I am grateful to each of you, especially as the one-year anniversary of this blog arrives tomorrow), I am writing a book tentatively titled Interrogating Memory: Film Noir Spurs a Deep Dive Into My Family History...and My Own. The impetus for the book came from a career-related conversation … Continue reading Querying the impossible once again…. →

Separating the art from the artist

The director David Lynch—who I dressed as this past Halloween—gave this response to a question about the meaning of a puzzling moment toward the end of episode 15 of Twin Peaks: The Return. “What matters is what you believe happened,” he clarified. “That’s the whole thing. There are lots of things in life, and we wonder about … Continue reading Separating the art from the artist →

As I head to the APHA meeting in Atlanta in November…

There have been times, especially lately, that I start to write one post and end up writing an entirely different post. I originally conceived this post to be a simple repository for a set of documents related to my previous career. The impetus for this was two oral presentations I will be delivering in Atlanta … Continue reading As I head to the APHA meeting in Atlanta in November… →

Wait, when were you born??

I notice with some chagrin that I have only posted once (a paean to the late, great Walter Becker of Steely Dan) since August 26, 2017, which I regret, despite my assertion when I launched this blog that I would only post when I had something to say. There are two reasons (but not, as … Continue reading Wait, when were you born?? →