250,000 In 1999 I bought a Chevy S-10 pickup. When I drove it off the showroom floor, I announced to anyone who cared to listen that I would drive that truck until the doors rusted off the frame. We are nearly there. I had my mechanic look at the driver’s side door last week. The […]
The Anonymous Hillbilly I recently came across an interview on the internet. It was from the late 1980s. An old professor of mine was talking about the anti-intellectual nature of The United States. Even then, he described the suspicion with which the American people held various experts in fields like biology and anthropology. If you […]
Are you OK (with deference to Gertrude Stein, no question mark is necessary) I am back at the library. I’ll probably end up with a series of short “library posts” I can bundle up in their own volume. Wouldn’t that be exciting and interesting? I can feel the publishers getting ready to pounce. It didn’t […]
The Women of Classical Music Amazon Music recently started showing me a new category featured on their music app. I am unsure if it is new to the app or just new to me. Either way, I find it curious. The category is, you guessed it, Women of Classical Music. It never occurred to me […]
An Interview with Warren Andrew Slay, Part 8 I was at the library the other day when I saw Warren sitting at a table. I knew he might talk when he didn’t throw his bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper at me as I sat down across from him. Our conservation wasn’t long, but he did […]
Another Tale from the Library Rain always means one thing, more people at the library. I have never seen this many people here, even on election day. The place is jumping. My regular table is taken, my briefcase replaced by a plastic bag of cheerios, most certainly not that brand, but you get the idea. […]
The Hardest Thing I have mentioned a time or two that I am getting old. I can’t figure out how it happened, but I am now 60. People will tell you that age is just a number, but 60 is a significant number. Sure, these same people will tell you that 60 is the new […]
The Ides of November There is a big snowstorm forecast for later today. Lots of lake-effect snow is expected. This section of Hillbilly Land can get blasted, not as bad as places like Buffalo, but it is bad enough. I have plenty of food in the house, as those living in the snow belt tend […]
My Right Elbow Years ago, I fell while running. I shattered my right elbow on the asphalt and needed surgery to fix the break. I still have a dozen pins and screws surrounding the joint and a couple of plates. There was lots of fallout from the injury; I have written about the complication that […]
Keep Moving He noticed her as soon as he entered. She was looking at him, watching him as he moved through the entrance and into the main lobby. He couldn’t have been any more uninterested. He didn’t have time for her, but she didn’t know. She adjusted her oversized sweater, the kind librarians wear; you […]