Name that movie summer fun: Movie lines, Part 1
read more…: Name that movie summer fun: Movie lines, Part 1I give you the famous line, you come up with the name of the movie. Extra points for recalling who said it and the year.
Community Bulletin Board
Weddings, anniversaries, engagements, Valentine’s Day love notes, military promotions or accolades, graduation shout-outs, obituaries or tributes to a loved one, pet obituaries/tributes, and other personal news and milestones shared by you, the community.
Also a place where conversation happens – from Letters to the Editor and Op/Eds to The Soapbox, you’re welcome to tell us how you really feel.
How to have a colonoscopy like a middle-aged man with high cholesterol
read more…: How to have a colonoscopy like a middle-aged man with high cholesterolYou will watch your wife devour a grilled chicken salad with Italian dressing for her lunch. Resent her. Growl along with your stomach. Seethe. Stay away from the basement and the beer in the fridge. Flush the toilet that you fixed. Feel proud.
Death of an institution: Folding of NHIA in Manchester is heartbreaking, to say the least
read more…: Death of an institution: Folding of NHIA in Manchester is heartbreaking, to say the leastThe New Hampshire Institute of Arts (NHIA, R.I.P) has been a part of my life since early 1996, nearly 100 years after its inception, when I first studied ceramics and sculpture at the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences.
Did you attend Woodstock? Part 2
read more…: Did you attend Woodstock? Part 2So how much did the groups receive for their efforts during this infamous weekend, which went into Monday with headliner Jimi Hendrix playing to only 30,000 to 40,000 of the estimated 400,000 to 500,000 people who attended?
Rippin E Brakes new album: ‘It’s like nothing we have ever done before’
read more…: Rippin E Brakes new album: ‘It’s like nothing we have ever done before’On a near-perfect spring day in Cambridge, Mass., Concord’s long-celebrated and best rock’n’roll band, The Rippin E Brakes, gathered at “The Bridge Stage and Sound” to record their first studio album in three years.
We all came from someplace else
read more…: We all came from someplace elseManchester, our city, is growing in leaps and spurts and a walk down Elm Street, a visit to any number of the new ethnic markets (for which as a chef I am ecstatic) or Market Basket for that matter is all it takes to see that diversity is becoming established in the Queen City. I am sure there is tension – how can there not be? – but it seems that our city (Welcoming Manchester) and our neighborhoods are unassumingly making a statement. We have yet to witness and I fervently hope we never do, the vitriol and at times violence that cultural intermingling can cause.
Holy sh-t, it’s not a ‘witch hunt’
read more…: Holy sh-t, it’s not a ‘witch hunt’So let me get this straight: Donald Trump has now been indicted twice, once by the state of New York and now by the Department of Justice, for multiple felony offenses and was recently found liable in a civil case for sexual abuse and defamation, but he didn’t do any of it. None. Nada. Zero.
What is distinct about Manchester?
read more…: What is distinct about Manchester?Manchester is distinct in many ways, and it’s that distinctiveness that makes it special. It is my hope that the company selected to develop branding for our city, (North Star Place Branding of Jacksonville, FL), does it justice by not only holding community-wide events, such as the one recently held at the Rex Theatre, but that they actually go into the various neighborhoods to experience our distinctiveness for themselves.
Driving anxiety and Golden Earring
read more…: Driving anxiety and Golden EarringFor anyone who has ever suffered a panic attack in a car—particularly while driving—I don’t need to describe the abject terror that accompanies this experience. For those who haven’t, it’s like being locked inside a metal box, gasping for air.
Did you attend Woodstock? Part 1
read more…: Did you attend Woodstock? Part 1Did you attend Woodstock? Do you have tons of stories to tell anyone who will listen to your adventures during the three days of peace and music (and mud) August 15-18, 1969, at Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York? Are your tickets framed in your home as proof of attendance?
This is not Nate Graziano
read more…: This is not Nate GrazianoSince ChatGPT and other AI apps have become readily available—some for free, the better ones charging service fees—it’s become a confounding task to prove plagiarism, as I’m sure many of my fellow-educator can attest.
Timely Writer: Alternative headlines for the Union Leader
read more…: Timely Writer: Alternative headlines for the Union LeaderI thought I’d have a bit of fun this month, sports fans, by creating headlines that might have been for the Union Leader, the paper we love and hate or even love to hate.
Powder Blue and the Disco Gymferno
read more…: Powder Blue and the Disco GymfernoThat afternoon, we don’t walk into the Disco Dance, we strut in like we’re John F-ing Travolta powering down 86th Street. I toss a couple finger guns at some admiring dads who somehow, foolishly, are wearing regular clothes. Little Bean checks in with her peeps and I see her pointing in my direction, obviously showing her friends how Disco awesome her old man is. No one looks as good as us with the possible exception of Mr. O, the school gym instructor who is also subbing as the dance DJ.
I don’t want to learn another software program again
read more…: I don’t want to learn another software program againI was trying to fall asleep last night but was caught up in the hamster wheel of my mind of the various and varied software programs each of my jobs entailed over the years.
Path to self-sufficiency?
read more…: Path to self-sufficiency?Lately, I have known a few people who have had to utilize the “social safety net” because of sudden job loss or other situations where the ability to afford basic necessities for their families became a major struggle. (It doesn’t help that the cost of living has increased across the board).
Local author continues giving streak with gift to All Youth Count in support of foster kids
read more…: Local author continues giving streak with gift to All Youth Count in support of foster kidsIt’s that time of year again – I did another check presentation, this time at my home, to help benefit “children without parents.” I always promised 100% of my book sales to help kids in some way, and to date, this will make $8,500 given from the last four years of book sales! I am very proud, thanks to all of you who bought my book and a love that will never die!
The Soapbox: Public praise for my colleague from across the aisle
read more…: The Soapbox: Public praise for my colleague from across the aisleWe hear a lot about arguing and infighting among members of the NH House, especially across party lines. However, that is not always the case. I am writing today to publicly praise Steve Pearson, who is not the same political party as I am. However, when I needed help, he immediately came to my aid.
How to prepare for Memorial Day weekend like a middle-aged man with high cholesterol
read more…: How to prepare for Memorial Day weekend like a middle-aged man with high cholesterolIt’s inconsequential that you still own a push mower well into your middle age. It’s inconsequential that your yard seems to expand every spring, along with the addition of more patches of dead grass.
This time away reminded me of me
read more…: This time away reminded me of meExtroverts draw energy from others, losing energy when alone. Introverts, contrariwise, charge our batteries when alone and steadily use them up with others. As a boy, I envied Superman his Fortress of Solitude, and regularly escaped to a crawl space or basement room or tree house or spot in the woods. I liked people, or at least most of them, but I needed to be alone.
Undigested morsels
read more…: Undigested morselsOn my computer desktop, I’ve got a folder called “To Be Finished” containing more than a hundred files of ideas I thought I wanted to write about. Some of these are a few thousand words, others a few sentences. Today is Sunday. I’ve spent the day hiking in the Todra Gorge—as beautiful as anything in Arizona—and poking around the city of Tinghir. I am tired, too tired to move more files into that graveyard of a folder. Instead of writing a full piece today, I’m copying and pasting the things I’ve started this week, then abandoned. Thank you.