Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms yearning to breathe free.
“No, Spiardi. I bought myself a ring that’s too big.” This is how Miss S.T. sarcastically answered when I asked if her boyfriend bought her the yarn-wrapped ring she was sporting on her finger. It had never occurred to me that the fuzzy bands worn by the A-list girls began their lives as one-size-fits-all pieces … Read more
August 25, 2015: I took a road trip with “Born to Run” yesterday. It’s the 40th anniversary of Bruce’s groundbreaking album, and there’s no better way to experience it than by blasting it in your car, with the windows open and the wind blowing back your hair. Cars and tunnels and backstreets and highways are … Read more
“Where the boys are, someone waits for me,” Connie Francis once sang. And just where were they waiting in my sleepy little hometown in the slow, sweet summertime? Well, let’s just say it wasn’t at our old cracked-concrete tennis court. But for me, it was someplace to go, and go I did – back in … Read more
Ten-year-old kids shouldn’t be worrying about the after-effects of unprotected sex, mind-altering drugs, and adult unemployment, but thanks to several artful public service announcements (PSAs) that aired on network television in the early 70s, I once considered pre-booking a room in a nunnery! As a boob-tube loving adolescent, I was equal parts baffled and delighted … Read more
“Dear God: Please bring me a snow day. In fact, bring me a dozen of them. I don’t care if school drags on till July, just shake it all down RIGHT NOW so that I can stay in bed and hide for a while. I’d like to prolong the agony of encountering the bully from … Read more