David Bowie: Ashes to Ashes (Revisited)
Sean MurphySordid details following. It’s all in here: summing up practically everything from the ‘70s and previewing so many trends to follow in the ‘80s. Everyone heard this, even if they…
David Bowie: The Man Who Owned the World (Three Years Later)
ONLY THE BEATLES. That’s the sole comparison that comes to mind when compelled to name a musical act with similar impact and importance. The Beatles, as we all know, changed…
My Annual New Year’s Eve Message
As always, it’s a hell of a lot easier to keep things in perspective by considering the (increasing) number of our brothers and sisters who are struggling just to be,…
Mom, Johnny Mathis and Me
Despite accusations to the contrary leveled by friends (and especially family), I don't hate Christmas music so much as I'm allergic to cliché and kitsch -- and as such this…
What We Talk About When We Talk About Sex (In Fiction)
WRITING ABOUT SEX is like engaging in sex: it’s hard. Or, it should be. It’s that time of year again, where we can count on three things: shopping-related stress during…
Never Say Die: Celebrating Ozzy at 70
The Prince, on his Throne Happy 70th birthday to Ozzy Osbourne, the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness. If you'd guessed, circa 1974, or 1984 (or 1994, etc.), that any of…
Original Short Fiction: The Letter My Father Never Wrote Me
I'm grateful to the excellent literary magazine Palooka for giving a home to my very short piece "The Letter My Father Never Wrote Me." If you like what you see,…
The Whiteness of the Whale: Remembering The White Album (Revisited)
Therefore, in his other moods, symbolize whatever grand or gracious thing he will by whiteness, no man can deny that in its profoundest idealized significance it calls up a peculiar…
Poem: To the ones that got away
Gratitude to Gyroscope for publishing this one (2017). To the ones that got away It wasn’t me, it was you. Accept this affirmation as the tardy alibi of an…
Something More Than a Superhero: Appreciating Stan Lee
Anyone who has written with some modest degree of success eventually, inevitably, is asked how they got started, who inspired them. My typical, and not untruthful answer, is that Stephen…