There was always one in every neighborhood. That kid who was just a little…off. I mean, the social constructs of a large neighborhood in the early 80’s were actually quite complex. There was an order. A hierarchical structure that existed and often dictated a kid’s status. It certainly wasn’t based on wealth or the […]
Lack of technology is an imagination stimulator. A kid will conjure up just about anything in his head when he has no stimuli entering it other than sound. I spent many a summer day loafing under a shady tree with just a couple buddies and a boom box. We’d all sit cross-legged and listen to […]
Everything seen through a child’s eyes and mind must first pass through his filters of innocence and naivete. He is small in a grand world. Any stimuli entering his brain is magnified ten-fold. His reality is shaped by the distortions of relativity. Like a grown man standing in front of one of those carnival […]
Back in the ’80s, many high-school kids spent their mornings before the first bell smoking cigarettes in the common area right in front of the main entrance. At least at my East Baltimore school, they did. I’m not exaggerating when I say there were over 200 kids huddled in a mass, laughing and bullshitting […]
That feeling you get when bad news hits can be suffocating and all-consuming. I’ve racked up many hours in my life just driving around, trying to calm down and clear my head after life had broad-sided me with a gut punch. On this particular day, around lunchtime, I had just gotten fired from another crappy […]
“…I’m as free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot change.” Written by a 23-year old red-neck from the swamps of Jacksonville, Florida. “…There’s a lady who’s sure, all that glitters is gold, and she’s buying a Stairway to Heaven.” Written by a 22-year old rambler from the smoke stacks of Birmingham, England. […]
I’ll never forget. Next touchdown wins. Drawn out precisely with his index finger in the freezing mud, our quarterback whispered the play over the heavy panting of his teammates-the exhale steam hovering thick in our huddle of eight. An unusually cold and blustery Thanksgiving, we were either blowing what little hot, lung air we […]
I can remember the day like it was yesterday. Traumatic episodes have a way of sticking with you. It was 1995 and our group had just gotten back from a beautiful day of an ugly golf round. The sun was starting to set in Myrtle Beach, the May breeze was warm, and my older brother […]
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