the starlings and the pigeons in city hall park the traffic coming off the brooklyn bridge then into the subway and under the river a transfer later and up into the brooklyn air walking for no purpose on 8th avenue staring at passing fences then it’s william gaynor’s house but somebody’s removed the stoop nothing…
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It’s always fascinating to look to the new year. All we can do is guess what’s going to happen. Will we be okay? Will all our loved ones be okay? What’s the worst thing that will happen?  Every year has its ups and downs. Not many are as bad as 1941, 1963, 1968, and 2001. All…
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Talk about a bunch of doggerel: six hundred billion dollars for “defense.”  They used to call it the War Department, before 1945; unless there was a war, they didn’t really have all that much to do.  But defense?  Ah.  Everyone’s against war, but nobody can be against defense, or you’re anti-American. Well, the Senate just passed a…
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September 14, 2013 Raymond F. Hessinger, Director, Freight & Passenger Rail Bureau, NYS Department of Transportation, 50 Wolf Road, POD 54, Albany, NY 12232. Dear Sir: I strongly support the maintenance of the rail system in the Lake Placid – Remsen travel corridor. The sudden and aggressive nature of the rails-to-trails folks has all the hallmarks of a…
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Government: I believe that government of and by the people is not necessarily government for the people. We don’t usually know much at all about the representatives we choose, and we don’t understand most of the issues they vote on. The language of bills is written by people trained in law; it is not a language most Americans…
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Fran Frey sang 26 sides for George Olsen’s band in the 1920s and early 30s. I got this obit from Ancestry.com; registration is required, so I signed in and downloaded this clip from the Los Angeles Times of December 8, 1962. Note: Fran’s is the second obit of the two.

It’s hard to break old habits. With all the fun things we can do just sitting around the house, it’s not an easy thing to tell yourself that you have to keep the weight off if you want to stay healthy. It’s not easy because there are no shortcuts. Eat less, move more. What motivates…
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When I was 5, my family went to West Virginia on vacation. We took a ride on the then-new Cass Scenic Railroad. I bought a 45rpm record and played it till the grooves were gray. It was lost probably in 1966 in the various moves of my life.  You wouldn’t expect to find something so obscure…
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