Writing about The Bug recently got me to realize that I am not celebrating my fellow man nearly enough these days – particularly the people I know who are exceedingly talented: take The Watchman for example… Naturally “The Watchman” is an alias for one of the finest lyricists I have ever heard (and actually know) […]

Only a competitive swimmer can appreciate the multitude of hours spent looking at the bottom of a swimming pool – and, the obligatory fantasies that followed the seemingly endless hours of moving one’s body across a tiled surface while suspended in water… Someone once wrote a book about “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner” (if

This morning I realized, yet again – that I have an incredibly beautiful drive to work – and I have never written about it. Some people may not care much about their commute to-and-from-work – but when you’ve looked at the bottom of swimming pools as much as I have (an upcoming essay) – you

I guess I do this blog/Op-Ed/therapeutic piece for myself (and-a-couple-of-you out there) – to flesh out my Master Plan for humankind.  I don’t think the Brain – from “Pinky and the Brain” –is too far off in his suggestion that we all want to take over the world! Sure, I tell my students that you

Well – some of the ol’ gang wanted me to make-my-way back to the Zoo for our 30th …the big 30th Year Reunion of the Class of ’79.  I had to politely decline – because I truly don’t want to remember any-of-my-fours-years-there. Don’t get me wrong – I love the people that I shared my

All that recent contemplation about death got me to thinking about sex – and I’m sure Freud would have understood.  But what I don’t understand is: what was the causal factor that moved my brain from my little head back up to my big head (where I’m hoping my brain belongs…because life seems so much

A wonderful, stately, classy – grand dame I know — has been diagnosed with terminal, pancreatic cancer (I gather that once you have cancer of the pancreas – you are dead – just not as quickly as from a Black Mamba bite).  So Giti and I went to visit her this weekend down in Leucadia

Publisher Arash suggested that I do something special for article #100.  I can’t believe that this is the 100th essay/article/op-ed that I’ve penned…gosh, it’s been almost 2 years of writing at The Doctor’s Inn – so I’ve managed some 60,000 words in the past couple-of-years – which I know wouldn’t impress Anthony Trollope who kicked

Not too long ago, The Calender section of my beloved Times had an article about a TV show I found particularly horrifying back-in-the-day – but fondly remembered by The Times writer – known as “30 Something.”  God how I detested this show, and, even though I loved “The Big Chill” when it came out –

I went to see “District 9” the other day – and couldn’t quite frame a response to the experience…suffice to say, the film did seem to be quintessentially South African.  I was pleased to re-experience the Afrikaans framing of “fuck”: pronounced “fok” – which was used quite liberally throughout the film.  I was also pleased