The 8 stories here are all, as one might guess from the title, told in the first-person–in a deceptively chatty, laid-back narrative tone that effortlessly draws the reader in–even as it masks deeper, sometimes disturbing yet always entertaining aspects of one man’s mostly quiet, yet never-quite-ordinary experiences. The first 5 are reprints from prominent US […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: First Person Singular"The last movie of the coffeehouse night… Great rock n roll/coming of age movie! Meanwhile, I had a long heart-to-heart chat with a friend. Then a bunch of us got into Netflix (‘crack for TV/movie fans’)-especially including shows like The Magician. There was also talk of binging on various foods, Stephen King’s great book On Writing and the […]
Read more "January 19 at the midway, part 2"More chess matches! Debate about heavy metal covers. Walking sticks and homemade Roman sandals (complete with straps to wrap around the wearer’s legs). Ah, all parts of the fun strangeness that is the Shangri-La Coffee Lounge at Windber’s Fabled Grand Midway Hotel. And Blair is consulting with a regular attendee on cover art/design for his […]
Read more "October 6 at the Midway, Part 2"Maybe Blair decided he’d played WITCHES OF EASTWICK too often. After less than a half hour, he switched off to The Matrix Reloaded. Meanwhile, a couple chess matches were ongoing in the booth behind mine. Nearby, several people compared notes of favorite country music stars, especially ‘outlaw’ ones. Then there was a tarot card reading. Mark […]
Read more "September 29 at the Grand Midway, Part 2"1st day of Autumn! The decorative tombstones are out front! Inside, I spent a while talking writing with a self-published horror author (who says he’s going to dedicate a future book to me!?). The night’s first movie: Urban Legend! A GIANT Ouji Board pointer arrived here tonight, now standing in the corner (towering over all […]
Read more "Sept. 22 at the Grand Midway"Much talk of dog breeds, Pokemon Go vs. Geo Caching, and home remodeling techniques were among the subjects various people discussed here tonight. Meanwhile, Jeter the dog got a quick walk around Werewolf Park (as we call it) between rain showers. Alas, the lettuce Blair generously put out for area rabbits has gone untouched as […]
Read more "July 28th at the Grand Midway, Part 2"Rain, thunder, lightning and wind–what a great night for the weekly Shangri-La Coffee Lounge at Windber’s fabulously haunted Grand Midway Hotel! Owner Blair Murphy has invested on several new flavors of designer coffees and teas. To start the night off, I sampled SAM’S CHOICE MEDIUM ROAST COFFEE. Not bad at all. The old reliable DUNKIN […]
Read more "June 16 at the Midway, Part 1"I live in a fairly obscure and quite small town in west-central Pennsylvania, though it has produced (or at least claimed–more on that, in a bit) a number of famous people (in various fields of endeavor). First up, let’s admit that this onetime coal mining center itself has a decidedly funny name: Windber. A major […]
Read more "TARZAN, MOONDOG & ME"
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