Clay Russell – On interesting people, places, food and things

#OTD 1979

Posted on November 12, 2023November 12, 2023 by Clay

It was a month after I turned 18 that my mother took me to Las Vegas to see Frank Sinatra. It was November…

On sleep

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Clay

When I woke up today, the light seeping in beneath the blinds on the bedroom window was a lighter shade of gray than…

Remembering Daddy

Posted on November 26, 2022 by Clay

My dad died this morning. Jim Russell was 94 and, after a diagnosis of prostate cancer a few weeks ago and news that…

The dream with the Alamo on a truck

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Clay

When you grow up in San Antonio you know something about the Alamo. You know how to get to it and you know…

Big movies from the 70s, 80s and 90s I really should have seen but somehow never did

Posted on September 26, 2022 by Clay

By way of confession, here are movies I should have seen but didn’t: 48 HrsAgainst All OddsAnnie HallBack to the FutureBeachesThe BodyguardBraveheartChildren of…

Dinner with the Clichés

Posted on September 10, 2022September 10, 2022 by Clay

Roberta Cliché prided herself on her cooking. She considered herself the Queen of Westchester where food was concerned. Manuelo Cliché, Roberta’s husband, was…

There was that time when…

Posted on September 8, 2022September 9, 2022 by Clay

…Barbra Streisand asked me to tell her husband she was ready to go. …I noticed Danny De Vito in my living room, and…

Scarred for life

Posted on September 5, 2022 by Clay

I’ve heard it said that a scar adds character to a man, perhaps because it implies adventure, danger, a past. I don’t think…

Two unpleasant Canadians

Posted on September 3, 2022September 3, 2022 by Clay

In 1987, while living in Chicago, I fell in love with Toronto. The first time I visited, my plan was to spend a…

Counting backward

Posted on August 30, 2022August 30, 2022 by Clay

There is a little game with which I amuse myself in which I take my age, or that of other people, and figure…