Category Archives: Single Ship

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict a time in the not-to-distant future when $4.00 gas may well be “the good old days” and we’ll all be forced into buying intelligent cars. Here’s a view of some of the new PhD automobiles we’ll soon be seeing in our driveways. THE SMORVETTE THE SMAUDI A3 AWD THE SMAMBORGHINI THE SMORSCHE THE SMERARRI AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST . . . THE SMUSTANG

When I was a teenager, the month of September brought with it the end of summer vacation, the agony of having to start school again, and the thrill of anticipation as we waited for the new models of our favorite cars. Back then, each year brought something more than a price increase and a bunch of hype about nothing wrapped up in a body style that remained unchanged for multiple model years. I was a Chevy guy. Looking back now I’m not sure where that preference came from, but I remember the first time I laid my eyes on a … Continue reading →

I would never be anything less than sympathetic toward someone’s grief over the loss of a pet, and I offer this short piece of humorous fiction only for the chuckle-factor of a great punch line. If making light of a serious topic offends anyone, I apologize in advance. A woman brings a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. She lays her pet on the examining table, and the vet pulls out his stethoscope and listens to the bird’s chest. After a moment or two, he shakes his head. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but Cuddles has passed away.” The distressed woman … Continue reading →

By way of preface, I think Mr. Helprin and I might differ on the criteria used to choose the instances in which America sends its young to fight and die on foreign soil. But once that decision has been made, he and I are in lockstep with regard to what I referred to in an earlier post as “The Wall of Indifference.” If you read nothing else about Memorial Day on the occasion of Remembrance 2011, may I suggest that you read this? And if you have any doubts as to the author’s credibility to support his opinions, be sure … Continue reading →

For the past month or so, the Austin American-Statesman has been collecting stories from Austinites who experienced the Memorial Day Flood of May 24, 1981. A few have been included in the paper, and today’s Metro & State section devotes a full page to a select few. All submissions can be found here. Here’s mine: On the morning of May 24, 1981, I arose after spending my first night sleeping on the floor of my brand new, unfurnished house in the Westlake area of Austin. Born and raised in Dallas, I had spent the last quarter-century away in college and … Continue reading →

My aversion to a game in which people traipse around on manicured grass chasing after a little white ball that seldom goes where they want it to all the name of relaxation, and that is even less seldom anything but frustrating in the extreme, goes so far back that I can’t even remember its origins. The picture at the end of this post isn’t as bad as the ones of the golfer who lost an arm to an alligator while trying to recover a ball in the water, but it reminds me of a lesson learned during one of my … Continue reading →

For any aviators out there, you have got to watch and listen this one. Go full screen and turn up the sound for The Beaver Song.  

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Its purpose is to honor Americans who have died in all wars. Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives whether they had served in the military or not. Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, and it has become a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips … Continue reading →