Fifty days ago, I made an election display at the library. There’s so much crazy flying around and libraries are supposed to be safe havens. I wanted my display to do two things: Provide a way to give people access to digestible and genuine information about the candidates. Remind us all that at least this … Continue reading One display, one playlist, one eighth-grade groper & one heart-to-heart across voting lines: a 2016 presidential election word buffet
Tag: music
Dear Muslims who are terrified of being collateral damage because of yesterday and white men who are terrified of being collateral damage because of all the shootings and massacres. I do not think all of you are terrorists. Sincerely: Amy PS I still think all the legislators who are worshipping at the feet of Wayne LaPierre … Continue reading Dear Non-terrorist Muslims & White Men; Dear Impending Grandson: A pair of open letters
I spent Tuesday night with some old white men here in Milwaukee, and they weren’t Republican presidential wannabes. Not only did we get to see Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey on stage, but after the show, we got to go backstage and hang out with them. Well, mostly we hung with Peter. And we did … Continue reading A vote for harmony and service: Skipping the Republican Debate to sing and tie a shoelace
Once upon a time in another life, I was a music journalist. I started out doing it because I love music and it gave me the opportunity to interview (and in some cases even meet) artists I’d long admired. It also, at a point when I was dirt poor, helped me feed my music habit. … Continue reading Nuggets from my life as a music journalist, featuring Mark Lindsay and the woman formerly known as Bruce Jenner
“And I never forgot how that year after Dad died and we lost our house, my best friend moved away and the youth group turned its collective back on me felt (picture one of those cartoons where Daffy Duck is standing on a cliff and the giant eraser comes and suddenly there's only duck and … Continue reading Giant erasers, mean girls and shag carpet: A Dispatch from Misfit Hell
You know life is getting stressful when the prospect of multiple injections in your mouth followed by the replacement of every filling on two quadrant’s worth of teeth sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon. To be fair, a part of that is my new-ish dentist, Dr. J and her hygienist, L. Dr. … Continue reading A trip to the dentist, featuring “tooth-colored” filling material and a few good bands
It’s been a terrible week for the news business. Brian Williams has been handed a suspension without pay for six months, or as I’m calling it, “book leave.” Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show to have dinner with his kids. And Bob Simon, whose latest stop in a distinguished career was 60 Minutes, was … Continue reading Newsmakers make news, religious fanatics make trouble and Mom’s community hosts a Debbie Friedman event with a millennial twist
So, this weekend we were going to drive to Chicago to see Sweetheart’s brother, Tommy, who is playing an angry bass player in “Dee Snider’s Rock-n-Roll Christmas Tale.” I’ve been looking forward to it since June, when he’d got cast. Tommy is a ridiculously talented singer, actor and bass player who’s done a fair bit of work locally, … Continue reading Tommy in Spandex (with pictures)
Spoiler alert: I’m going to talk about the picture at the top of this blog. If you don’t want to know what’s going on, stop reading. I didn’t know Kit was taking the picture. I was busy scattering our friend Julie’s ashes. I'd never done anything like that before and was apprehensive. Then I got my handful. They … Continue reading How to become part of a musical instrument
Last year, Leonard Cohen did something I never thought would happen in a gatrillion years. He played a show in my city. I owe my Cousin-by-Choice Peter a huge debt of gratitude for that, because Peter’s the promoter who got him here. Turned out that Sweetheart had never heard of Leonard Cohen, which I discovered when … Continue reading Leonard Cohen, Suzzy Roche and parties
the sentence factory 