Brad Zellar Whoever, so as to simplify problems, denies the existence of certain obligations has, in his heart, made a compact with crime. —Simone Weil, The Need For Roots How could I have expected that after a long life I would understand no more than to wake up at night and to repeat: strange, strange, strange, o … Read more
For fifteen years I’d been waiting for the news that this poor, skinny fucker had turned up dead in a place just like this, but here he was, (barely) living proof that it didn’t require much in the way of cooperation and commitment to simply keep on breathing. It had probably been at least seven … Read more
How strange. Do you see how much that poor creature has in its hands? And yet you’ve never known anyone with emptier arms. Look Closely: This Picture Is A Metaphor Is anybody alive out there? Would you care to show yourselves or produce some general murmur to announce your presence? This darkness is oppressive, and … Read more
That sort of felt like a punctuation mark, didn’t it? A big, loud, red, emphatic something right there in the middle of the schedule. I don’t know. Maybe the Twins will bounce back and have one of those sustained hot streaks they had so often in the last several years but which have resolutely eluded … Read more
I began by telling him how dissatisfied I was with the idea that life must be a lesser thing than we were capable of imagining it to be. I had the feeling that the same thing happened to nearly everybody I knew and whom I did not know. No sooner was their youth, with the … Read more
Yes, it is. But what song is it? That is your assignment for today, class. What is the theme song of the 2005 Minnesota Twins? Possible suggestions, as of 5:30 this morning: “Too Much of Not Enough”? “Thin Line Between Love and Hate”? “You Ain’t Goin’ No Where”? “My Favorite Waste of Time”? “Bases Were … Read more
A bad night lies ahead And a new day beyond that– A simple sequence, but hard To remember in the right order. —Mark Jarman, “Psalm: The New Day” Twice I woke up tonight and wandered to the window. And the lights down on the street, like pale omission points, tried to complete the fragment of … Read more
Thanks for nothing, fellas. Thanks for ruining another Friday night. I suppose I should thank you, though, for the fond and lingering –well, maybe not so lingering; maybe swiftly evaporating– memories of that glorious three-game winning streak. FYI, for those who’ve inquired: I’ve had some pretty intense squabbles with Jumbo over the last week or … Read more
No man should ever find himself in the fish-belly gray light of dawn sitting hunched on the floor with a pen paralyzed in his fingers listening to Jimmy Scott. No man should ever eat plain white rice and corn chips for breakfast. No man should ever sit at four a.m., raking the soiled carpet with … Read more
Let this be a lesson to all of you. A teachable moment, as they say in the corporate world, or at least as they used to say in the corporate world. Or in the sub-corporate world. An old boss once said it to me anyway, after I threatened to shove a Big Mike’s submarine sandwich … Read more