A very good cheeseburger
(An abridged version of this review appeared April 22, 2021, on Instagram in meatfilleddough.) In a mid-1970s Tonight Show monologue, Johnny Carson said, “McDonald’s announced…
Read MoreAuthor: Clay
The dream with Harrison Ford and the Moscow Mules
It was unclear in my dream how I came to such a state of urgency vis-à-vis my housing situation. But urgent it was,…
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A Good Cry
I’ve neglected my blog, and I feel bad about it. I don’t delude myself into believing that legions of readers have lost sleep…
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Talking to cats
When one’s spouse is bicoastal and one is home alone a lot, one talks to one’s cats. Sometimes I simply meow back when…
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On this date—1969
Fifty years ago today, Frank Sinatra stepped into Studio 1 at Western Recorders in Hollywood. The building isn’t called that anymore—it’s still a…
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The dream about the apple pancake
I awoke this morning from a dream in which I was having a meal in the Walnut Room at Marshall Field’s State Street…
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Rodgers & Hart & Sinatra
In recent years, friends have tagged me on Facebook asking for lists of favorite records and favorite books. I sighed a little when…
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Yes, I vacationed in Paris
Already the snideness has begun. “We get it. You vacationed in Paris.” “Suddenly everybody is French.” Some among us have taken to social media…
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My dinosaur
Earlier today, I found myself prostrate with guilt when I realized that, as a child, I had chosen a favorite dinosaur not because…
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Mama the Cook
Mama was not a very good cook. She was an inspirational schoolteacher, the kind to whom people sent tear-wrinkled letters of gratitude, years after they left her classroom. She pulled…
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