Point Made

Let me tell you about my latest medical adventure . I had heard the term hernia, but honestly, I had no idea what it really was until I was diagnosed by my primary physician. The solution to the problem is a one-day surgical procedure. And I'm assured that I can take care of myself at home. I've had a lot of surgery in the last couple of years. This is the first time I've been required to have a test for COVID 19. My best summer's day was on August 19th. It was a Wednesday and two friends and I met at the Benelux in the 3rd ward at a rooftop table. It was warm but not hot and the humidity was more than tolerable. Even though the company, Barb Katz and Anne Wilde, would have been great in any case the weather and the setting made it perfect. Request: I have been asked to repeat two helpful ideas I've written about in the past in the past. One essay is why you should never cook cabbage, broccoli, or cauliflower.  The other is how to eat cereal that's not soggy ...

I didn't exactly move from Appleton to Milwaukee until August 15, 2019. However, I did stay with a friend here starting on the seventh until I could move into my apartment on the fifteenth. It enabled me for that period of time to begin renewing my friendships in the city. One of those meetings was extremely timely. I got together with Whitney Gould. It would be the last time I would see her. She passed away not long after that lunch we had together. There was a flurry of coffees, lunches, and breakfast meetings as I touched base with as many people as I could. Then it was time for the Milwaukee Film Festival. I know I wouldn't have attended near as many films if I hadn't been in the city. After that, it was seeing some films that were reprieved for a couple of weeks after the closing of the festivals run. As the theater season began it's run, my efforts to publish my theater preview column were rewarded. I got the opportunity to write for Urban Milwaukee.com . Not only...

No, that is not the title of my next manuscript. And yes, If you're trying to keep track, the last chapter of my Novel 26 Women went out last Thursday. Watch this space for the announcement of the beginning of the latest one currently entitled Working Title.  Also, I happy to announce to all of you grammar experts, my friend Pam Frautchi has volunteered to edit 26 Women . So all of those irritating punctuation issues and sloppy sentence constructions will be gone. I will be deciding on how I'm going to publish it. My goal is a reasonably priced digital and hardcopy available in time for the Holidays. Ah, Let me get back to week twenty, or the seemingly never-ending period of quarantine. You readers have to be tired of the recitation of my daily schedule. Nothings changed except maybe what I'm working with my art projects. No, let us talk about what I'm streaming. Many of us loved Michelle Dockeryas the Lady Crowley in Downton Abby. You see her ability to play an Americ...

This week marked my nineteenth week in quarantine. Human contact consists of the following things.  I shop for groceries in a store.  Once a week, I meet with one friend, outdoors and we chat. I met Larry Krowlakoski in a park. Bill Sell and I purchased lunch at the public market. Pamela Frautchi and I had lunch on the patio at the Knick. Michelle Money met me for coffee at Stone Creek on Downer.  Everyone wore masks and we were careful with everything with which we made contact. I suspect this limited social life will continue through fall and possibly into 2021. As many of us are, I am active on Zoom. My association with the Zeidler Group, interviews conducted by Urban Milwaukee's Jeremay Jannene, film studies conducted by John Hickey from St Marks film club, and theater readings by American Players to name a few, occupy a couple of hours a week. I'm in email, phone conversation, and Instant messaging contact with friends, relatives, and societal dropouts in all shades ...

The air is thick. The light breeze is juicy with the sweat of summer. How quickly the clouds form and the thunder rumbles warn us. The birds cry. They are telling the rest of their flock to be aware that soon the damp earth will yield the crawling worms they like to feast on. It is a quick attack. It sweeps over us with menace and leaves us in peace. Soon the clouds linger and the thick air wraps us in its arms. We can hear few rumbles off in the distance as the danger retreats. We are left with the air cleansed. The tires of the few cars, that are in the streets these days, hiss through the wet pavement. The rain will cause the lawnmower engine sounds in the coming days, flowers in the fields to grow, and salad greens in the garden to prosper. Still, we must fear the sickness.

Breaking News! I received my absentee/vote by mail ballot for the August 2020 Primary. Delivered July 2, 2020 Theater News. With the COVID 19 pandemic still closing theaters from Broadway NYC to Broadway MKE, we theater lovers do have a huge hole in our hearts and minds to fill. Let's start in agreement on one thing. No experience is close to seeing theater performance in a theater with an audience. We have acclimated ourselves to watching sports on TV, We have learned to accept TV drama in the darkness of our living room or on our phones while riding a bus rumbling down our poorly paved streets.  However, the magic of theater is sitting in a dark room with others while we witness the talents of men and women who bring the magic with them when they arrive for work. Given that we have now shed our tears and gnashed our teeth over the necessity of giving this experience up, because of the Virus, we can view theatrical performances that are recorded and then streamed. Why would we wan...

Scorched Earth Retreat Reading the National Media and peeking at Tweeter (don't dwell too long, it's a Rabbit hole gateway) you could get the idea that our president has lost what little mind he had left. The national problems with the virus, the economy, the social justice movement, and anything else you might want to throw into the soup, he appears to be troubled.  Polls showing him behind Joe Biden in many of the swing states that he carried in 2016. Some reports have him roaming the White House in the middle of the night screaming at the portraits of past presidents, asking, "Why oh why don't people like anymore?" The paintings don't answer, of course, and it isn't because he doesn't remember any of their names. I've said in many past postings on Facebook, and in this blog, that he is showing signs of dementia. I'm serious about that observation. It is not an attempt to insult him but point out a condition that I think is getting worse from...