- Follow Reflections on a Checkered Career on WordPress.com
-
Recent Posts
- Ice
- Ken the Collector
- REAL ID
- The Entertainment Miracle
- Maury’s Bookstore
- Am I my Brother’s Keeper?
- The Chosen People
- A Conversation With Louie Armstrong
- Jeep Dreams
- My Final Farewell Concert Tour
- Why Does An Orchestra Sound Like An Orchestra?
- The Oboe
- The Heart Stamp
- We live in bear country
- Flowing Organic Wholeness
Archives
- May 2021 (1)
- February 2021 (1)
- January 2021 (1)
- December 2020 (4)
- November 2020 (3)
- July 2020 (2)
- May 2020 (2)
- November 2019 (2)
- August 2019 (1)
- June 2019 (2)
- February 2019 (2)
- October 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (2)
- June 2018 (1)
- May 2018 (1)
- February 2018 (1)
- December 2017 (1)
- November 2017 (1)
- September 2017 (1)
- July 2017 (1)
- May 2017 (1)
- March 2017 (1)
- February 2017 (1)
- January 2017 (2)
- December 2016 (1)
- November 2016 (1)
- October 2016 (2)
- September 2016 (5)
- August 2016 (1)
- June 2016 (1)
- May 2016 (1)
- April 2016 (1)
- January 2016 (1)
- September 2015 (1)
- April 2015 (2)
- March 2015 (5)
- February 2015 (4)
- January 2015 (5)
- December 2014 (2)
- November 2014 (5)
- October 2014 (9)
- September 2014 (6)
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Ice
I feel very strongly about ice. Not the ice with which winter sometimes glazes our streets and sidewalks, but the ice we use to chill our drinks. I don’t like ice made in the freezer section of modern refrigerators. I … Continue reading
Ken the Collector
I do not understand what motivates a collector. The thought of acquiring large quantities of items that have no intrinsic value except to others of similar bent is totally foreign to me. Paintings, stamps, coins, vinyl records, comic books, baseball … Continue reading
REAL ID
A few months ago, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles notified me that my driver’s license was set to expire at my next birthday and informed me that I could renew it by mail or I could make an appointment … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Department of Motor Vehicles, DMV, driver's license, proof of residence, REAL ID
Leave a comment
The Entertainment Miracle
Sometimes, inanimate objects just gather in ways that defy the imagination. Items lying about the house in different rooms for different purposes just seem to gravitate together to create a uniquely transformational union. ‘The Entertainment Miracle’ started in 1991 with … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged car TV, in-vehicle entertainment, in-vehicle-infotainment, long car trips
1 Comment
Maury’s Bookstore
My real education began in Maury’s Book Store during the summer of 1958. I had always been an avid reader…I read Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey in high school. But mostly it was science fiction or Sherlock Holmes. It is to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged books, bookstore, Chicago, Dostoyevsky, education, Harnack, Maury's, school, Twain, Voltaire, Zola
Leave a comment
Am I my Brother’s Keeper?
One of the most significant, and probably the most misunderstood, tenets of Christian mythology is the notion that every living person is a child of God. I think this misunderstanding is most apparent in the allegorical story of Cain, the … Continue reading
The Chosen People
Although my family’s surname is “Blatt,” I am not Jewish, even though every other Blatt that I have ever met has been. I strongly suspect that my not-too-distant ancestors (perhaps as close as my great-great-grandfather) were, but converted when they … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged arab conflict, chosen people, Israel, Israeli policies, israelies
Leave a comment
A Conversation With Louie Armstrong
It is easier to say what Studs Terkel was not, rather than what he was. He was not a Maury Povich or a Jerry Springer. He was not a Johnny Carson or a Jack Paar, and certainly not a Stephen … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged interviewing, interviews, Louie Armstrong, Studs Terkel, WFMT
Leave a comment
Jeep Dreams
Although World War Two ended in Europe in May 1945, it took a while to bring home the 3 million soldiers stationed there. Almost 2 million got back to US soil within the next 12 months. I met one of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged dreams, electric vehicle, high school friends, Jeep, vehicle, veteran, world war two
Leave a comment
My Final Farewell Concert Tour
I played my final concert in December 1963 at Chicago’s Masonic Hospital School of Nursing Annual Holiday Party. Not coincidentally, it was also my first concert. I hadn’t intended to perform at the party…I was there as a guest … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 12-string guitar, folk concert, Folk Music, folk singing, live entertainment
Leave a comment