Monthly Archives: October 2016

Halloween is too big for Halloween. It’s not surprising that Halloween has metastasized to take over all of October, and even parts of September in the form of pumpkin spice whatevers. Halloween brings up issues that can’t be contained in a single day, or even a month. Yet I come not to bury, but to raise the dead praise the undead. In fact, I vote for THREE MONTHS OF HALLOWEEN. Let me tell you why. Formally, kids and adults are […]

You heard me. Before 2016, I would have said America’s greatest brand was Coca-Cola. But this election cycle has changed my mind. Here’s what marketing gurus ought to do. Elect a president who sets off a civil war, wins it, and gets killed. Let simmer for 150 years. Presto: best brand ever. Donald Trump is going to win at least 20 states, probably 24. That is not a typo. Read it again. Here’s the snapshot from everyone’s favorite site today, […]

Part of this year’s IEP was this report. I don’t think we had this equivalent in years before, perhaps because we hadn’t gone all-in on his AAC until the most recent school year. This is Part 2 of Dar’s IEP; next week I’ll present Part 3, which will constitute the concluding thoughts on this year’s big whoop-de-woo. Early next year (February 2017), he has his “triennial,” which will be an even bigger whoop-de-woo. In some ways, I read the below and think, well, […]

Today I “got into it” with an anti-Hillary Clinton person on Facebook. I’m not proud of myself. Actually, I offer this up as a confessional. Personally, I don’t love it when I see someone charge Hillary with “attacking” women. When did she “attack” any woman? Even one of Bill Clinton’s inamoratas? So this time, when I saw a stranger, ahem, ATTACK Hillary on a friend’s Facebook post, I asked him to support his statement. Of course he didn’t. Our exchange […]

On the debate stage this week, Hillary Clinton made a better case against Donald Trump’s claims of election “rigging” than 95% of her supporters. She used the word “pattern” and said that Trump called the FBI rigged, the Iowa and Wisconsin GOP primaries rigged, the court system rigged, and even the Emmys rigged. She might have also mentioned his deranged reaction to Obama’s 2012 re-election. But it was a brilliant move by Clinton. While throwing in words to appease her […]

Last week I discussed Dar’s IEP; next week I’ll discuss it a little more; today is time to mark the occasion of Dar turning seven. I realize I’ve had years to get used to this, but it still bothers me that Dar doesn’t know when it’s birthday. I know this isn’t helping anyone, but I feel children are supposed to know about birthdays, especially their own. There’s meant to be a certain light in their eyes when they say “birthday […]

This is the story of how I made this. I never saw “The Producers” with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick onstage. I never saw the original casts of “Spamalot,” “Wicked,” “The Book of Mormon,” or any other Broadway sensation of the 21st century. I waited until the traveling version came to town, or missed out entirely. I knew “Hamilton” was different. Months in advance, I bought a ticket to a Saturday matinee on a non-holiday weekend in February. I flew […]

What if it was all planned this way? What if this conversation happened behind closed doors 18 months ago: DONALD: I think I’m going to do it. I’m going to run for President. IVANKA: Daddy, we’ve talked about this. You don’t have an angle, you don’t have a way to separate from the other dozen GOP candidates. DONALD: That’s just it, darling. I have my angle. My campaign will fight “the war on political correctness.” IVANKA: What are you talking […]

Dar’s annual IEP was yesterday. I have a lot to say about that, but today I’m going to confine myself to some raw numbers. My six-year-old, probably unlike your six-year-old (at least I hope so, for your sake), gets a detailed list of goals and intentions. And unlike your six-year-old, mine’s not doing so well. This is just the portion of the IEP that reviewed last year’s goals and asked if/how Dar met them. I’ll get to other parts in […]

    Available for purchase here. LYRICS: So, Aaron Burr’s killed the cursed Alexander Hamilton And I was losing sleep on choosing how the heck I’d handle them A Ham has passed, raise a glass, A Burr has passed into disgrace This Founding Father needn’t bother with a re-election race The scandal’s yours, Aaron Burr serves as your vice-president I hate his soul, and people hold that truth to be self-evident What happened to departing, you and I to Monticello? The […]