Point Made

 In the Red Zone is a phrase from Football that means the ball is close to the goal line. It is meant to raise the expectations of success.  Yesterday I was in the red zone with my vote. I had received my ballot last Friday, September, 25th. Yesterday during lunch with my friend Micelle Mooney, we went through the witnessing ceremony. I stopped at the Eastside Library, walked up to the dropbox on the sidewalk near the entrance, put the ballot through the slot, and scored.😄😄 I hope everyone knows that the ballots are picked up every day and you can go to MyVote.wi.gov and check to see if it's been scanned as received and after Nov. 3rd to confirm it was counted. Still in the Red Zone This week Pam Frautchi and I finished the second line-by-line edit of my novel, 26 Women. I have to go through it for some continuity issues and some extensive rewriting in a couple of areas, but I'm close to publishing it. I'm on my own twenty-yard line with a new idea. My new character is ...

 I'm no Andy Borowitz. Maybe I'm just messing with you. Here is what I posted on Facebook this morning The sad part about this is I will never know how many people are going to believe this. In Wisconsin, we are experiencing what I call San Diego weather. Many people have told me that the most perfect weather in the mainland USA is in San Diego. We are having cool nights Mid '40s-'50s) and warm days (Hi 60's to mid-'70s), small amounts of rain, and scattered clouds.  This is when I miss playing golf. If you have an early tee time, you start out with a light sweater over a polo shirt. As you make the turn on the tenth tee, you probably have put that sweater in the bag. The leaves haven't fallen yet, so you don't lose as many golf balls. The only thing you have to watch is that it starts getting dark earlier. Since Poppa Jeff can't stand up without a cane, he cannot swing a club without falling down. I'm relegated to watching the Pro's play n ...

 From time to time I may have slipped a subliminal endorsement for a service or product I've purchased or used. Today I'm going to be a little more blatant. I saw a woman posting her accomplishments as a ceramicist. I liked what Melissa did with functional pieces, but she didn't have what I needed. I wanted a shallow eight-inch diameter bowl to be used for pasta or a large salad. I messaged her and asked her if she could do it. She accommodated me by not only creating the bowls but delivering them to me personally. She rocks, people! Melissa Muller https://www.facebook.com/mjmuller Courtesy of David Nitz  My Greatgrandchildren, from left to right,  Jonny, Brixton, & Ledger It's obvious the young lady is bored with her two male companions. The rumor persists that at the delivery of the twins the doctor remarked, that they suffered from a case of the cuties and there was nothing they could do about it.

I'm not ready. It's way too early for an old man like me running around in public. There are way too many people not wearing masks and observing social distancing. Even though my COVID test, taken a week ago was negative, I'm not going to take any risks. I only meet certain people, outdoors, and wearing a mask. With cases occurring at an alarming rate and the death toll climbing, I'm not rolling that set of dice. I wish people would quit pointing out that the birds have started migrating and the sumac is changing color. The month of September and up to mid-October are part of The 120 days of Possible Good Weather in Wisconsin. Do not rain on this guy's parade! I am ready.  I may be optimistic but I've started planing for the morning after November 3rd when my email account will be almost empty when I open it. (If I could get Lending Tree to stop, it would be empty for sure.) While the late-night comics will have a couple of more months to have fun with Trump, t...

 Pam and I have been working from home on the line by line edit of my novel 26 Women . When we work, she is at home looking at the latest draft I've emailed her and I'm at home looking at the same version.  It's like being back in one of Marshall Cook's gatherings. Marshall ran the Writers Institute in Madison for a number of years. Participants would come with a short piece and exchange them with the others. He would moderate a discussion of the entries that would allow the writers to get input on their work. It's always interesting how readers will misunderstand the brilliance of your writing. Or put another way, how your writing will defy explanation.  Pam will ask me some form of the question, "What are you trying to say here?" We usually ended up rewriting a word, sentence, or paragraph. Only occasionally, the work would stand scrutiny and remain unchanged. I also seem to go into a coma using commas. I tend to sprinkle them like fairy dust in hopes th...

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...