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Tangled Up In Red
I was born and raised in Detroit and though I have left it many times, it was always due to an inherent wanderlust and a deep loathing for winter, never about the city itself. This last return to Detroit which, at my advanced age, may well be my last lastRead More …
Writer Brain vs Non-Writer Brain
If you’ve ever wondered: Three senarios comparing Writer Brain (WB) to Non-Writer Brain (NWB) while out for a walk in Eliza Howell park in the early morning hours. SENARIO 1: SCENE: White van with blacked-out windows enters the park. NWB: May or may not notice white van with blacked-out windows.Read More …
Death and Taxes and Detroit Bureaucracy
They say the only thing you can count on is death and taxes. But, if you live in the D, you can add bureaucracy that short list. You can definitely count on that. So, my continuing battle over the assessed value of this house continues into the summer months. WhatRead More …
This is Reality Boy
It’s nearly sundown on a late winter day, the blockbuster movie you’ve been waiting months to see has finally arrived. As you’re on your way back from the mailbox, you pass your TBR book pile. Reality Boy is on top. Absently you pick it up, flip it open, read theRead More …
Spring
It’s the first day of spring, time for me to reawaken from my winter hiatus. Not that it’s exactly t-shirt and shorts weather just yet. It’s been a brutal winter. Spring is going to take awhile to fully get here. Out with the Big Guy and the Medium Guy thisRead More …
The Myth of Detroit
A group called Write A House is giving away houses in Detroit to writers. Since that was first announced, the disparaging remarks about Detroit have increased 10 fold. Moronic remarks, misinformed remarks, flat out wrong remarks, you name it, I’ve stumbled across it. It even came up in the writer’sRead More …
Envying Bears
About the time the earth slides past the midway point between its closest and furthest distance from the sun, I begin to feel those first vague tendrils of winter’s approach. They’re brief, forgotten in a moment, never completely gone. There are blue skies and sunny days, the weather is stillRead More …
Detroit Bankrupt? Duh, Ya Think?
The door that’s been open for much too long was finally kicked in today. Judge Rhodes declared the D is eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Gee, what a surprise. And it only took 5 months and several million dollars to figure that out. Not blaming the judge, mind you. HeRead More …
Tony Partly Cloudy
So, I’m standing at the sink washing dishes the other morning, thinking out loud, ‘what’s Tony gonna do? I mean, you know he’s gonna do it his way, right?’ And man, does he! It is, at this point, you know you’re onto a great book and Tony Partly Cloudy isRead More …
Slipping into Winter
Took our first dip into Winter yesterday. Rain turned to snow, 40 turned to 30 and kept on turning into the 20s. Trees that had brightly colored leaves yesterday are bare today. There is still a bit of snow on the ground where the sun has yet to shine. TheRead More …
Yellow is the Color of Foreclosure
It’s that time of year again. Out and about with the Big Dudes, I spot yellow plastic bags stapled to door frames and porch rails, stuck on stakes in empty lots. Detroit is collecting its trash in the form of burned out houses and overgrown lots, more auction material noRead More …
Diary of an Abandoned House
It sat on a fenced-in corner lot, a nice looking, pseudo-brick house, 2, maybe 3 bedroom, complete with a garage bordering the alley, if Detroit still had working alleys that is. Not sure what to call them now. Empty Space formerly known as Alley? Two majestic pines dominate the frontRead More …
The Candidate’s Daughter
I’ve pretty much given up on self-pub books. Too much crap to wade through to find the few gems among them. However, when several people you know start talking about one, it may well be worth checking out. That’s the case with The Candidate’s Daughter. There are scenes in thisRead More …
Death Ain’t But A Word
I’m not sure why I picked up this book. The title is so-so, the cover is garish. Was it the San Francisco Book Review blurb on the front cover? I’m generally not inclined toward paying much attention to blurbs. Way too many blurb whores out there for me to payRead More …
Me Again
Keith Cronin has that rare ability many writers wish they had: a near perfect sense of comedic timing, especially where the one-liner is concerned. It’s hard to imagine ‘funny’ in a story about a man who has been in a coma for years, a man no one thought would everRead More …