If nothing else (and there was plenty else), my first year at Penn State in 67-68 included a cornucopia of rich theatrical performances on campus. I’ve previously mentioned the outstanding Stop the World—I Want to Get Off, but the Theatre Arts student performances also included Marat/Sade (I’m too tired to type out the full name of the … Continue reading Guys and West Side Mattress
Autobiography
The Bad Little Boy
Once there was a bad little boy whose name was Jim—though, if you will notice, you will find that bad little boys are nearly always called James in your Sunday-school books. It was strange, but still it was true, that this one was called Jim. He didn’t have any sick mother, either—a sick mother who … Continue reading The Bad Little Boy
And Today I Feel…
A Covid Scare
Early on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago, I baked a batch of Blondies. The recipe yields 24 Blondies, so my plan was to keep six, freeze another six, and offer the remaining ones to a couple of my neighbors. Of course, I needed to wait until they had cooled off and I got … Continue reading A Covid Scare
Nobody Forgave My Student Loan Debt!
When I left Penn State in 1971, I had a student loan debt amounting to about $4,000. (Perhaps I should phrase that as “When Penn State dropped me”. Something about my grades.) I had received a loan of exactly $1,000 each year that I attended Penn State, and that covered the tuition and partially covered … Continue reading Nobody Forgave My Student Loan Debt!
I Schussle
When I was younger, my mother often used to tell me, “You schussle!” That’s a Pennsylvania Dutch word, which according to the Pennsylvania Dutch Dictionary means “to move too hastily”. In my case my mother meant I rushed, and rushing led to careless mistakes. The first time I recall her saying it was when she … Continue reading I Schussle
I Wasn’t Vaccinated for Smallpox
When I was very young, I was fascinated by people’s vaccination marks on their upper arms. We moved onto my grandfather’s farm when I was three, and for the first few years we shared the Great Stone House with another couple, Arlene and Victor Gerhart, and their young daughter. And the thing I recall most about … Continue reading I Wasn’t Vaccinated for Smallpox
Charlie Bubbles
During my first year at Penn State I took a course on the cinema. I don’t know if we planned it or if it just turned out that way, but Tony, a Philadelphia boy of Italian descent whose last name I no longer recall (sorry, Tony) and I took the course at the same time. … Continue reading Charlie Bubbles
I Don’t Want To Talk About It
I tried making the roast chicken according to the recipe given on America’s Test Kitchen. It did not go well. I ended up with good gravy and reasonably good tasting chicken, but the skin was dried out, not crispy, and— Oh, never mind.
Blood Will Tell
My blood work results came back yesterday. My cholesterol is very high. Now this has been normal for me for years, and it hasn’t been a cause for concern because it was my good cholesterol (the HDL) that was pushing the total cholesterol level over the top. But now it’s my bad cholesterol (the LDL) that has … Continue reading Blood Will Tell
Namely JT 