My friend David Gentiles posted an old Don McLean song on his blog today. That and my continued listening to Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels sent me on a little musical journey of my own this evening. And so, I offer a sampling of some of my favorite aging songwriters and some of their best…

We have a new dishwasher at the restaurant at Duke. His name is Arnaldo and he is from Cuba. He is about my height and, I’m guessing not much over half my weight. His skin is dark – ebony – and yet luminous enough to let you see the lines worn into his skin by…

I wish there were some wayto cut a small slit in the walland let the air, trapped sincefirst construction, spill intothe room and tell its stories. I wonder who walked thesefloors in those first days,when the pin oak at the curbwas smaller than the houseand the street not so shaded. I welcome those ghosts,the spirits…

Over the summer, we have seen both the Chef de Cuisine and the Sous Chef at the restaurant leave for other places. Actually, the latter followed the former, which is not unusual in restaurant circles, but that’s a story for another time. Both guys were there when I joined the staff; they have been the…

Here is the manuscript of a sermon I preached this morning at our church. Peace,Milton ________________________ I would like to begin this morning with a sentence that I’m fairly sure has not been uttered by many people. Here it is: some of my favorite sermons have to do with punctuation and grammar. Seriously. I’ll give…

Yesterday marked the twentieth anniversary of Ginger’s and my engagement. We celebrated with a quick trip to Boston (my first since we moved), including a Sox game and a meal at the Hard Rock, which is where we ate on August 12, 1989 (except at the one in Dallas, which is no more). For our…

I guess tonight might be the blogging equivalent of clearing off my desk. I have not written as regularly as I would like over the last couple of months for a variety of reasons, this week however, it was not for lack of ideas. Before the time gets away, I want to comment on a…

I came across this video through my neighborhood association listserv. It gives a good sense of this cool little city. Peace,Milton

Sometimes, the way we look at the world swings on a sentence. A small, well chosen collection of words can change not only what we are reading or hearing, but also how we see and hear everything around us. The Great Gatsby holds (at least) one of those sentences for me, as Fitzgerald describes Gatsby…

There are no stars tonight.We see only clouds andhear the storm gatheringon the edge of town likebandits in a Western. There are no stars tonight,so we say, waiting for rain,listening to the thunder,cosmic talking drummerstelling an old, old story. There are no stars tonight,but there will be stars –stars outshine storms;light beats clouds every time:paper,…