Life promises nothing. And everything. An earnest young man named Tristan called me Wednesday night on behalf of the University of Tennessee’s Arts and Sciences Annual Telefund, he said. I found a mailer from my alma mater in the P.O. box last week, so I knew this was coming and already planned to give. Perfect … Continue reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: What Does Your Life Promise?
Knoxville
Hope and the Human Spirit: Postcard from Home
Knoxville’s downtown Market Square once held an imposing masonry building that served as a center for thriving commerce, including a beloved farmer’s market that purveyed meat, poultry, dairy, produce, and flowers trucked in from the city’s rural outskirts. A 14-year-old boy set it ablaze lighting a cigarette in the late 1950s, goes the story, gutting … Continue reading Hope and the Human Spirit: Postcard from Home
Summer Reading: Some Promising Looking Fresh Hell
What fresh hell can this be? It is a line sometimes attributed to Shakespeare, but Dorothy Parker said it. Dang Shakespeare. It's one of those quips that sounds so civilized, so much better than any number of other crude things one might choose to say when a situation demands it (wtf comes to mind). I found Dorothy … Continue reading Summer Reading: Some Promising Looking Fresh Hell
Mike Birbiglia, Life’s Interruptions, et al.: A True Story
In a recent interview comedian-writer-actor-director Mike Birbiglia spoke of becoming a new dad on the heels of a work project, how he timed things in a way he thought he could stay in control, and then—like all brand new babies do—his infant daughter completely upended his best-laid plans while she successfully upstaged him. He’s a … Continue reading Mike Birbiglia, Life’s Interruptions, et al.: A True Story
How Firm a Foundation: Training a Young Dancer for Life
Unrelenting questions, lobbed one after another by a well-intentioned ballet school dad, my back inches from an icy cooler packed with pricey frozen concoctions in one of Knoxville’s fancy new grocery stores. Did I think there was something special in his young daughter Celia? Did she possess a gift for classical ballet? And what about … Continue reading How Firm a Foundation: Training a Young Dancer for Life
Home is where Your Heart Is: I Heart Vermont, Kinda
It just doesn’t always heart me back. The man rapping his knuckles against my car window had no teeth. He wore unbuttoned flannel over a filthy shirt and baggy trousers, which were held aloft over his pot belly by a pair of suspenders; his scruffy beard betrayed a recent snack. It was broad daylight in … Continue reading Home is where Your Heart Is: I Heart Vermont, Kinda
Agricultural Reflections: Cycling on the Battenkill
People here in Vermont are much closer to the land than they are in other states where I've lived. The state as a whole is sparsely populated, sparsely developed, and most of us live within spitting distance of at least one working farm. The road where I ride my bicycle is dotted with them, and an … Continue reading Agricultural Reflections: Cycling on the Battenkill
Emotional Habits: Putting Sadness in a Box
In her book The Creative Habit renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp writes about her work process. She starts a new box for each new project; anything that serves as inspiration goes into the box, along with every other object that has some meaningful connection to the work. When the project ends she puts a lid on the box … Continue reading Emotional Habits: Putting Sadness in a Box
The Wrong Side of Every Door: Finding Paradise
The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore: When you let him in, then he wants to be out; He's always on the wrong side of every door, And as soon as he's at home, then he'd like to get about.—T.S. Eliot The oppressive heat of high summer in Memphis, Tennessee reaches its fingers across … Continue reading The Wrong Side of Every Door: Finding Paradise
Race Relations
Sometimes you get rapped on the knuckles by an ageing matriarch; it is possible you deserved it. That is Kathryn "Katie" Blackwell, holding my brother Tom. The photo was made some time in 1969 or '70 when he was still a newbie; my mom handed it to me a couple months ago when I saw … Continue reading Race Relations
Sycamore Stories 