Why is playing the ukulele like playing with myself?
When I was thirteen, I saw the movie Palm Springs Weekend, which was one of those inane Frankie and Annette movies but with Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens. They made it in 1963, the year before I was born, but I was watching this around 1977. Sure, there were cute women dancing in bikinis, but … Read more
Did you ever forget someone’s name, or call them by the wrong name?
A few years back, one of my coworkers called me by the name “Marty,” rather than “Mickey.“ I’d stopped into his office, chatted, and we were saying our farewells when he said it: “Take it easy, Marty.” It took me by surprise, and I didn’t correct him. I’d already shifted my weight to make my … Read more
Shame, Fear and Envy Prevented Me From Learning How to Ride a Bike, and Caused a Rift in the Family
I love riding bicycles but learning to ride was clouded by fear, pain and envy. To begin with, we were not a “cool-bike” family. Our bikes weren’t even decent. We got a couple of hand-me-down bikes from our cousins up the street. Or, rather, my older brothers got those hand-me-downs and then I got them … Read more
How to Enjoy Life Despite Making a Mess of Things
It’s been a month since last I picayuned and a lot is going on but, then, I’m not here to tell you everything. This is a picayune. But a couple of perfectly picayune things happened on the way to Shakespeare in the Arboretum. Shakespeare in the Arb The Arb is a an arboretum in Ann … Read more