Movie Diary

A little over 25 years ago, my brother-in-law called to ask if I was interested in meeting him in New York to catch a live airing of “SNL” at the Rockefeller Center.  I’ve ticked off several items on my bucket list over the years, but seeing “Saturday Night Live” from the studio audience was one…

The word “fascism” gets thrown around a lot these days. In fact, it’s so overused that if you’re in the political sphere and haven’t been labeled a fascist, you’re probably doing something wrong.  The term “fascism” comes from the Italian word “fascio,” meaning “a bundle” or “group,” which in turn comes from the Latin “fasces,”…

I’ve lived through one major hurricane in my life…and it wasn’t pretty. It was 2016 and my wife, mother, mother-in-law, and I were living in Jacksonville, Florida, in a vacation home directly on the beach. In fact, it was so “on the beach” that you could walk out the back steps and down a set…

 Last Monday, I put my 20-year-old son on a plane to Melbourne, Australia. All in, he was in the air for over 20 hours. I fly regularly and anything over three hours makes me insane. Sitting in such a cramped space for an extended time makes my body ache and exhausts my mind. I can…

Thirty years ago, I attended a friend’s destination wedding in Paris, France. It was a fun affair that involved several events related to the nuptials, balanced with a few sightseeing tours that introduced us to French culture. I remember having a blast but feeling slighted when it came to the few museums we visited. I…

I was sitting in an auditorium last spring watching my son graduate from high school when a funny moment occurred.  The class valedictorian was giving his speech and at a certain point mentioned the various personalities of his classmates and how they were a microcosm of society. “Some of my classmates are going to be…

 My son was barely 10 years old when we moved into our most recent home. On the day we arrived, I told him to get on his bike and ride around the neighborhood to look for kids to play with. Without concern or care, he promptly did just that.  I knew when he didn’t come…

I just returned from a conference, and to get back quicker, I decided to take the redeye. Every time I do this, I regret it because of the disrupted sleep, but there’s something about getting home sooner rather than later.  I was hoping for a whole row to myself but that wasn’t the case. As…

 My son just started a job waitering at a local Mexican restaurant. He also works at a grocery store, but he hadn’t been getting enough hours, and since he needs money for his planned trip abroad next month, he knew he had to find additional employment. The restaurant serves authentic Mexican fare and is decorated…

For the past two weeks, my wife and I sat glued to the television in anticipation of the nightly Olympic recap. In that time, we saw some amazing athletes do some amazing things. We also got to see sports that are rarely covered in the media, like badminton, table tennis, and sport climbing (I was…

 My son was walking out of the house this past weekend with something tucked under his arm. I inquired what it was and he cautiously told me it was a case of poker chips (apparently, he and his friends were going to play cards and watch the UFC fights). I gave him my usual disapproving…

 In the summer of 1518, the city of Strasbourg in France (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) was enjoying a rebirth after many troubling years. The markets were alive, merchants were trading, and the townsfolk were in high spirits, their worries swept away by the promise of a prosperous year. One bright July morning,…

I’m currently at the beach on vacation. The daytime weather has been hot and humid with a slight cooling breeze blowing off the ocean. The nights have been hot as well, but the indoor air conditioning of our rented home is top notch, so sleeping isn’t an issue.  We awoke to dark, threatening clouds this…

I graduated from high school in 1984, and while many things in the world are just the same, many other things are radically different.  First of all, there were no cell phones in 1984. If we wanted to talk to someone on the phone, we either had to be at home or had a dime…

I got into the habit many years ago of asking my son (whenever he was injured) how he rated his pain on a scale from 1 to 10. Inevitably, it was always a 10, but as time passed and he matured, the numbers varied, and the scale became a good gauge for me to discern…