Mar 14‘The search is all that matters’In “Whale,” a story in John McCaffrey’s collection “Automatically Hip,” a high-school student tells the class that his grandfather was a typesetter before the age of computers. Another says that her mother lost her job at Wal-Mart to a machine that does the checking out. The conversation is sparked, according…4 min read4 min read
Published in Defuncted·Feb 9Clamming in JanuaryLawrence always believed that T-Rex possessed an instinctual sense of its impending doom. He was convinced of this whenever he viewed a picture of the prehistoric beast. In those savage and smoldering eyes he saw flashes of despair. …Flash Fiction4 min readFlash Fiction4 min read
Jan 16Battle-Ax(ioms) for Writing and for LifeBattle-Ax(ioms) for Writing and for Life “I have not yet begun to fight!” John Paul Jones I’m currently reading Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge. It’s a book about one of the most iconic, and one of the most deadly, conflicts in World War II. And while the…4 min read4 min read
Jan 9If You’re Happy and Don’t Know It Clap Your Hands!If You’re Happy and Don’t Know It Clap Your Hands! Do you know when you’re happy? For sure. But can you describe how you know when you’re happy? That’s a bit tougher, right? What about love? There are infinite songs and stories, poems and platitudes from those who are in…3 min read3 min read
Jan 2New Year’s Resolutions for Middle Age Men10 Things to do in 2023 It’s that time of year again, the turn of the year, when many us take stock of the past 12 months and, depending on how we feel about what happened or what didn’t happen in our lives, decide to make changes to improve things. …New Years Resolutions6 min readNew Years Resolutions6 min read
Dec 30, 2022I Don’t Know Who Needs to Hear This…The Danger of Distancing LanguageI Don’t Know Who Needs to Hear This…The Danger of Distancing Language Not too long ago, I did something I haven’t done in a long while: I went to the movies. It was special, and strange, after being so long away from a cinema, perhaps a year before the pandemic…4 min read4 min read
Jun 27, 2021Compass PointsThere are some writers I like to call “ Chuck Yeagers.” If you’re not aware, Yeager was one of the greatest aviators in American history, the man who broke the “sound barrier” one sunlit day in 1947 over California’s Mojave Desert. …8 min read8 min read
Jun 13, 2021Sven Master — The Good Men Project- Blaise Pascal I have made a new friend. His name is Sven. We play chess together. Lately, almost every evening. Sven is an excellent player, although he says he is at the intermediate level. Which must make me more than a bit below. You see, I’ve never beaten Sven…5 min read5 min read
Jun 6, 2021Come Undone — The Good Men ProjectWho do you need? Who do you love? When you come undone Duran Duran I was visiting friends I haven’t seen in over a year — or since the covid lockdown last March. I have been doing this more and more, reconnecting with close friends and loved ones after this…Healing From Grief4 min readHealing From Grief4 min read
May 30, 2021Strategies for Dealing With an Angry Partner — The Good Men ProjectAs often goes when I am having lunch with my friend Moshe Ratson, a marriage and family therapist and executive life coach based in New York City, we start, after a bit of catching up, “talking shop.” You see, in addition to being a writer of this column, I make…7 min read7 min read
