News of my World
Diary: “Beer: Why not for breakfast?” (2009 – 2010)
"Mug Shots"
From 2009 - 2011, I wrote a column for Louisville Eccentric Observer (aka LEO Weekly) called "Mug Shots."
If I recall, it was Cary...
Archipelago Travels
Technically Challenged
Beers with a Stoic: Sacraments, sanctuaries and homes away from home
Several iterations of this essay were published at the old NA Confidential.
A few years ago one Sunday we went for a stroll and passed...
Miscellany
Remembering Max Allen, bartender extraordinaire, gone too long but never forgotten
Remembering Max Allen, bartender extraordinaire.
We're drinking my friend to the end of a brief episode
So make it one for my baby
And one more for...
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40 Years in Beer, Part Twenty-Eight: The founding of F.O.S.S.I.L.S. in 1990
Previously: 40 Years in Beer, Part Twenty-Seven: Ladislav’s language — or, teaching credentials from a tiki bar in Ostrava.
Today's installment requires a short introduction...
40 Years in Beer (Book II), Part 70: Made-for-megabrewing stylelessness at the G.A.B.F. in...
Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book II), Part 69: Spring Break in 1997 with the classic Central European brewers.
Apparently 1997 was a stable year...
40 Years in Beer (Book II), Part 62: Rich O’s expands, and we gain...
Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book II), Part 61: The Silo Microbrewery’s fatal travails, 1994 – 1997.
Hang on tight, dear reader. This installment’s tilt-a-whirl...
From 2017: “When it comes to beer, less might yet be more”
This column was written in 2017. Pints&union came along in 2018, and Common Haus Hall in 2022. At both these establishments, owned by Joe...
Diary
It’s your friends, neighbors and a few blood relatives doing this, not El Presidente
Language matters in mental health. The words we use shape how we see the world–and ourselves. The words we choose and the meanings we...
Diary: Maybe I’m just having a bad week, or month, or…
I can't recall a time in my life when "retirement" made sense. If you're doing what you love, as I mostly have, then why...
Them ominous vultures
Last week we went for a walk to the pharmacy on a day with clear skies and warmth in the air, too early for...
Diary for 9 July 2021: Origin Park is the green space equivalent of Jeff...
Diary for 9 July 2021
Earlier in the week I mentioned to a few friends that a new ON THE AVENUES column was forthcoming. However,...
Diary: Talking ‘bout my generation (subtitle: OK Boomer)
Recently a post by Chris Arnade (ar-NAHD-i) at X caught my eye.
I've written for the last decade about the educational divide in the US,...
Recipes for Chaos
Herring salad — a simple, savory and effective recipe
Believe it or not, this tasty and simple recipe for herring salad originated with Betty Crocker's International Cookbook, which was published in 1980 and...
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A rainy writing morning; time again for “Venetian Vespers”
And might I add, a perfect day for letting my mind wander.
As I write, it is raining, and ponderings about Venice usually come equipped...
Diary: As for me, I’m sorry you made it so damn hard, and I...
"I'm sorry that things got hard."
That's like saying "I'm sorry it rained," when neither of us have any say over the weather. "Sorry" in...
What’s done is done, and new adventures await
Just when I conclude that things can't get more surreal, along comes 2026. It has been draining, but we squeezed in an excursion to...
