Thank you, Latrobe Bulletin readers for selecting me as your Favorite Local Author! Here's the letter-to-the-editor I wrote acknowledging the honor ...                                                           --  <<  &gt ..read more

 Remember when tweets used to be limited to 140 characters. Some of these are 140 words. I like being free to write what I feel but we're missing something. Not much, but something ...Enjoy your weekend!• Was looking forward to a rare night at home with just me and soon-to-be graduate when plans abruptly changed. It was not to be. So I was surprised to see her walking through the door asking ..read more

I'm struggling to write the book, "The Art of Living Suddenly: How to Deal with a Parkinson's Diagnosis (and other things that suck)."The problem is my insistence on writing only books that have happy endings. With PD that's a challenge. But I think this one strikes a balance between the complex emotions I need to convey a story that compels without depressing. At least that's how I feel today ..read more

 Hear ye! Hear ye!I somehow missed compiling these the last three months. Very lax on my part 'cause there are some good ones. Thanks for taking the time to check 'em out.• I was regretful the instant I opened my mouth. I'd lit into the  poor bastard. "You're a terrible bore! You tell the same damned stories over and over and over." The bartender just shook her head and said, dude ..read more

 It’s been 62 years since JFK historically announced his intention that the US would put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.His inspiration succeeded. And since the first one did so in 1969, we’ve put 11 more of them up there on the lunar surface.I’ll bet you can only name the one.Am I right? Neil Armstrong is the only one most of you can name (Interesting aside, to me at least ..read more

 (508 words)With an eeriness I doubt I’ll ever shake, I’d been obsessed with the Simon & Garfunkel 1970 classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water” since at least five days before a Baltimore bridge became fatally troubled by what was happening upon waters it was built to bridge. I’ve tried in vain to find a way to cajole the song — maybe the most flawlessly recorded pop song ever — into a ..read more

  I woke up the other day with a wild hair up my ass that went clear to my brain and now the wild one is about the only hair I have left.I shaved my head and now I’m bald as a baby, albeit a baby with chest hair and pubes.It’s not uncommon for empathic souls to shave their heads in solidarity with someone they admire, someone battling disease.But it’s been a long time since I’ve hung ..read more

 (1237 words)Nobody asked me and I’m not sure what I would’ve said, but they went and put a snazzy pool table in the 3rd floor rec room in the Tin Lizzy. It’s just 15 steps from the desk where I spend so much time trying to concentrate so I can maybe earn a living.Its pull on my attention is strong and I confess I spend at least an hour a day trying to sharpen my game.I’m consumed by a drive ..read more

 I saw one head peeking out the window — and it was just a quick peek, like if it had lingered for too long it might have drawn gun fire. A Pennsylvania state trooper had pulled over a dilapidated vehicle with a shifty looking motorist and it was all going down in our driveway. This was convenient for me ‘cause it was my car and I was the suspect. Home, sweet home! Frankly, I was ..read more

 I've been compiling these best-of lists for like 15 years now and no one not once has ever said, man, am I glad you take the time to list all those tweets 'cause I read every one of 'em.But they're useful to me to have them all in one place.'cause you never know when someone's gonna say, "We're putting together a 'Use All The Crayons! III.' Do you know where we can find another couple ..read more