Late out of the blocks this year, I have been chasing Christmas ever since. In fact, I'd barely shaken the cinder dust off Thanksgiving, when I looked up and saw Santa rounding the first turn. I panicked just a little. It would be a ho-ho-horrible thing to be lapped by an old, jelly-bellied man in [...]
A lone pine tree stands at the midway point of the Wisdom Tree Trail in Los Angeles. At first glance, it looks a little scraggly, but the tree acts as both an important focal point and a metaphor. It is the lone survivor of a devastating fire that swept the Hollywood Hills back in 2007. [...]
The Elf and I arrived at the Comedy Central Stage at 2:30 on the day of her big show. The Mensch rolled up soon after. This only surprised me a little. They are two of the promptest people I know. Still, I did wonder how we (Pure & Weary and I) would be filling the [...]
I spent 8 1/2 hours trapped on a plane yesterday thanks to a perfect storm of travel complications that hit us at both ends of our trip. Fortunately, Dudley was on board. The trouble started with a couple of missing flight attendants, grew thanks to an ominous announcement of "cargo that needed to be removed [...]
Music lives forever. I thought about that Saturday afternoon as the timeless strains of the Appleton Boychoir's A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols echoed through the Lawrence Chapel. The Festival dates back to 1880 and the Appleton Boychoir has performed it annually since 1979. Our own involvement started in 1995 when our oldest son [...]
