Life is a series of choices. They come at you bam, bam, bam from cradle to grave. We’re hard-wired for it. As little kids, we’re choosing a favorite rattle or middle-of-the-night wailing slot before we’re even aware a choice was involved. Parents know this via age-old wisdom, and though as adults they’re making horrible choices…… Continue reading Captain of My Choices: An Essay
Category: Humor
Seconds: “First of a Fine Spectacle”
Did you know Russian empress Catherine the Great wrote operas? She did, badly, or so goes her history. Anyway, back in my own when came an anthology call for Catherine the Great stories and here she was upon research having tried her imperial hand at librettos. I wrote it, a comic romp. Got a yes.…… Continue reading Seconds: “First of a Fine Spectacle”
Paris Always Wins: Behind “The Montparnasse Moon Shot”
Bob’s Spot in Paris There is a particular spot in Paris I go whenever there. It’s on the west tip of Île Saint-Louis, a prow of a park cutting the Seine into gauche and droit channels. The park is hardly a secret. Thousands of bateaux passengers cruise past it, thousands more stroll the river walks…… Continue reading Paris Always Wins: Behind “The Montparnasse Moon Shot”
Mangeot of the Somewhat Nordlands: Among Les Français, 2018
Lately my traveling alter ego Mangeot of the Nordlands has chronicled expeditions through Norway, Quebec, and now France. Try not to judge him too hard. He means well. 13 April — Tours We arrive among Les Français (meaning “They who put sauces on anything”) at their chief aerodrome of Paris. It is a grand city…… Continue reading Mangeot of the Somewhat Nordlands: Among Les Français, 2018