2024-03-29 17:20
Jason Kelce’s retirement speech from the Eagles and NFL is already famous. It was as remarkable a speech as it was a piece of writing and rhetoric.
The delivery was not just quintes… Read More
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a journal of American culture (or lack thereof) containing humor, commentary, satire, reviews, essays, debate, and diatribes on a a wide range of subjects.
2024-03-06 22:14
The new year, 2024–we’re way into it. It’s been too late for a while to say happy new year to someone. You no longer accidentally write “2023.” We’ve plun… Read More
2024-01-19 22:04
Many of us spent 2023 wallowing in doubt and self-pity about the inevitable rise of AI. Unbridled academic cheating. Deep fakes. The death of creativity. We feared humanity was done for!… Read More
2023-12-19 00:37
A few weeks ago we buried my dad’s ashes. He had a fitting send-off for an old vet: A small, somber ceremony at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, including a 21-gun salute and tap… Read More
2023-12-19 00:37
A few weeks ago we buried my dad’s ashes. He had a fitting send-off for an old vet: A small, somber ceremony at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, including a three-volley salute a… Read More
2023-10-21 14:24
I live in Burlington County and commute to West Philly. I support public transit, which is a tough sell in South Jersey, the land of the car, but it’s especially tough lately, because… Read More
2023-09-08 20:41
I was sending emails about this year’s Palmyra High School Foundation for Educational Excellence (PHSFEE) Casino Night–there’s a reason for this opening, I promise I’… Read More
2023-08-09 20:46
I’m critical, including in this space, of the rash of gambling sites and apps, especially how they are fronted by big-name former athletes luring in young bettors. But I’m a hypo… Read More
2023-07-12 19:55
Way back when, as an assistant coach for my middle child Nate’s soccer team, we set up an early spring scrimmage one weekend against another squad. We needed someone to referee.
I v… Read More
2023-06-30 18:49
My daughter, Elizabeth, is enrolled in a Nova Southeastern M.S. in Counseling program with a concentration in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. It is a low-residency program, meaning that m… Read More
2023-06-07 20:22
Eight months as empty nesters. How was it? We’ve barely had time to branch out.
Because, and this is a little hawkward, but recently I received the starling information that our go… Read More
2023-05-06 18:31
Even though I teach an entire 10-week undergrad course on Franz Kafka, sometimes the absurdity and our powerlessness in the face of techno-corporate-bureaucracy still take me by surprise. (I… Read More
2023-04-13 19:38
Recently my daughter told me she was in the midst of an email feud over an injustice she had suffered at the hands of some organization.
I couldn’t be prouder.
There’s a ch… Read More
2023-03-11 19:31
Last weekend I spent a day in a filled Phillipsburg High School gym for the N.J. State Girls’ Wrestling Championships with our freshman wrestler Samantha Domask. Sammy came out of nowh… Read More
2023-01-30 16:32
ChatGPT has been out there since November. It’s an artificial intelligence language model that according to its developer OpenAI’s website, does this:
We’ve trained a mo… Read More
2023-01-06 00:56
This year’s holiday questRanked neither naughtier nor nicer—I simply wished to buy my wifeA humble bagel slicer.
“What could be easier,” thought I,With a confident… Read More
2022-12-20 00:59
Pardon my bad Tom Petty “pun,” as I was going to be more direct with this title: “School ratings: F—ed data (as if you didn’t know).”
Stories have been… Read More
2022-11-09 22:22
Driven by a Casino Night fundraiser that was the result of the hard work and generosity of scores of people, the Palmyra High School Foundation for Educational Excellence raised $25,000 for… Read More
2022-10-10 18:53
It was exactly like they said it would be. We had three kids and it was this runaway train for years and then all of a sudden on September 9th youngest kid moves out and you look around and… Read More
2022-09-12 20:17
Let me start by saying that if my youngest puts as much study time into school as he put into researching a new computer–credit to the boy, he used Mom’s computer during high sch… Read More
2022-08-11 21:10
I have a memory that when we were kids, my brother, several friends, and I buried a time capsule in our backyard in a large hole that we would dig some summers.
This hole that we would di… Read More
2022-07-20 20:23
A few years ago, because she wanted me to cut something down and my gas chainsaw was decrepit, my wife bought me a battery-powered DeWalt chainsaw. For my limited purposes, its battery oomph… Read More
2022-06-27 18:01
When you bring home that first baby, I don’t care how many people you’ve talked to or books you’ve read, lurking in you is the core dread that you have no real idea how to… Read More
2022-05-27 21:29
I’m not blaming the news. But I do wish news sources would do more to siphon at least some of the fuel out of mass shootings. The generic headline template each time: Innocent people k… Read More
2022-04-29 22:14
I grew up playing football in a school that, back in the day, was probably like a lot of other schools: We were indoctrinated not to like soccer.
Our coaches used it as a foil, calling it… Read More
2022-03-24 18:11
It wasn’t complicated. He had fallen at dialysis a few weeks ago, an event that occurred only a week after his surprisingly speedy recovery from having a pacemaker implanted.
He fel… Read More
2022-03-24 18:11
It wasn’t complicated. He had fallen at dialysis a few weeks ago, an event that occurred only a week after his surprisingly speedy recovery from having a pacemaker implanted.
He fel… Read More
2022-02-15 01:50
Note: To people who don’t care about football, this one has little for you. Also, those of you who grew up around Dallas and/or in the 70s or 90s, you get a free pass here: I still hat… Read More
2022-01-11 01:09
(For those two or three fans I have out there, apologies for the hiatus. I took a little time off from writing as I transitioned into a new job at Drexel.)
I’d say college rankings… Read More
2021-08-30 20:35
I’ve been a bad dad, I realized the other day. I had never shown my boys the grand days of world-wide phony-baloney wrestling.
This isn’t that glitzy crap that’s on toda… Read More
2021-08-04 15:48
Most likely, you know about Simon Biles and the 2021 Olympics. I haven’t followed too closely the web scuttlebutt following her decision to withdraw from much of Olympic competition, o… Read More
2021-07-08 15:49
I saw a story the other day about teenage stock traders.
Teenagers trading stocks? What could possibly go wrong?
I think back to myself as an entrepreneurial teen. What would I have do… Read More
2021-06-29 13:06
Dear Max,
You wrote in your last letter that the publisher of my forthcoming complete works wishes me to append content warnings to the front matter of the book “to prevent readers… Read More
2021-06-14 20:29
Every time I get into one of my cars, the same thing happens–one of life’s petty little annoyances. It’s quiet, and I want to turn on the radio. Decades of instinct and log… Read More
2021-05-10 18:22
Got Moderna #2 last week. How weird is this to say about getting a shot?: It was an enjoyable experience.
The whole happening at Camden County College, both times I went, was great, and t… Read More
2021-04-13 02:32
Everything’s been all screwed up. You know what I mean, so I’ll spare you another listsicle of your Top 10 Life Disruptions.
But in our weary world, is that a bright spot I se… Read More
2021-03-26 02:44
When you go through old school picture day photos, memories return, even if you can’t for the life of you remember who half those people were–or even sometimes have trouble findi… Read More
2021-02-03 21:55
I watched the two-day snowstorm this week, and I also watched my high school junior sit diligently at the kitchen table, learning remotely. I thought how I can still remember the school clos… Read More
2021-01-19 21:46
I started writing this a few weeks ago, right after the last weekend of the NFL regular season. A few things have happened since, but I’ll stay the course.
2020 saw many a hope and… Read More
2020-12-31 17:28
In our house the movie A Christmas Story is, as in many other households, a holiday staple.
In this perfect little movie, Ralphie has several loss-of-youthful-innocence moments. One of t… Read More
2020-12-14 22:34
In the spring, as we were whiling away pandemic time, I decided to attempt to rekindle my short-lived TikTok fame by making a video about badminton.
Yeah, let that sentence sink in.
Un… Read More
2020-12-01 19:55
I have again wrenched myself into the 21st century. Last year I did it through TikTok. This year, Venmo.
This Venmo thing took a big leap of technofaith, since I had only recently starte… Read More
2020-11-18 21:18
We all knew a Donnie Dodgeball. He’d get pegged during a playground game of dodgeball The ball would carom off his back. But he wouldn’t admit it.
The kid on the other team w… Read More
2020-10-23 20:57
You’ve heard this everywhere, but I’ll still do my little part here: Get out and vote. I believe if enough people do, we’ll move on from this embarrassing chapter in U.S. h… Read More
2020-10-03 15:57
People across the world are dismayed, disturbed, and appalled by the U.S. Presidential debate Tuesday.
CNN simply called it a “shit-show.”
Following from these responses… Read More
2020-09-21 15:17
There is this guy I know. One day he turned into Captain America. It was a quick and thorough transformation.
I’m not sure how it happened, but all of a sudden he’s the bigges… Read More
2020-09-04 15:00
Now that the political conventions are over and we can get back to normal (hahahahaha–I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get that out with a straight face), I have a request: I… Read More
2020-08-13 17:47
As the rate of COVID cases in the U.S. continues to rise, I’m struck by the number of people I speak with who say, honestly, that they don’t know or haven’t heard from anyo… Read More
2020-07-30 15:14
We’re all aware of some version of the problem: It’s not just that we can’t agree, it’s that we can’t even have the conversation.
You know what I’m tal… Read More
2020-07-01 15:02
As some of you know, I have served for the past two years as President of the Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE). My term ended just yesterday (and had been preceded by a tw… Read More
2020-06-17 16:28
I agree that it should be pretty simple: My house, my rules.
But quarantine has made everything complicated. The plan was to start his journey to independence in the fall, a college frosh… Read More
2020-05-15 16:01
This opinion piece I wrote appeared yesterday in The Burlington County Times: “Guest Opinion: The Sixers Could’ve Had Tom Brady.” Read More
2020-04-09 15:51
Like everybody else (who’s smart), we’re at home, trying to work and learn and co-exist. Let’s face it: This lifestyle shatters long-term parenting philosophies. I suppo… Read More
2020-03-31 11:21
The unexamined life is not worth living. We need more tests. –Socrates
That which does not kill you makes you stronger, but you
still shouldn’t touch your face.–Niet… Read More
2020-03-20 21:26
I’m fortunate to have two hands, and for a long time I’ve had a simple, straightforward policy for them: World hand, my hand.
My right hand (I’m right-handed) interacts wit… Read More
2020-03-11 19:46
Concerns about COVID-19 are widespread. I am not an epidemiologist, so I will not make any predictions, but different sectors/segments of our culture will be tested, if not by the thing itse… Read More
2020-03-02 22:12
I’ve been involved with wrestling since 1982, so you can imagine that I’m enjoying that my son is having a good sophomore high school season. It didn’t start out that way… Read More
2020-02-05 23:46
A few years ago, I wrote about how my daughter, Elizabeth, wanted to change her major. I said that considering some of the “news” she had dropped on us, this was nothing. In fact… Read More
2020-01-17 20:56
I don’t know what you did over the holidays, but I went out and became an international TikTok sensation. Kind of.
It went like this: A few months ago, I made a very short video for my… Read More
2019-12-20 21:45
Not many people love the holiday season more than me. Very few things are capable of bothering me this time of year.
On that exception list is luxury car commercials.
My new most despised ad… Read More
2019-12-05 03:11
This opinion piece I wrote appeared today in The Burlington County Times: “Guest Opinion: If you leave New Jersey, it’s your loss.” Read More
2019-11-19 20:51
Conversations about the mind and sports that I have participated in over the years have tended to consist of topics like mind over body, “training” the mind, etc. Now there&rsquo&hell…Read More
2019-10-31 20:26
Sometimes in an unexpected, tucked-away place I’ll come across a piece of writing that hits home. Brandon Day, a veteran youth wrestling coach, wrote a piece for the Times Herald in Po… Read More
2019-10-20 19:18
PALMYRA, NJ – Arts programming at Palmyra High School (PHS) will receive a boost of $18,000 following a Casino Night community fundraiser organized by the school’s education foun… Read More
2019-10-14 14:55
Prolific author, poet and Tolkien scholar, David Day, is well-known to serious readers of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. My own shelves already contained his Tolkien: The Illustrated Ency… Read More
2019-09-30 20:39
My boys have never watched football, and I have counted this as a parental failing.
Not just because I love the NFL. I mean, I was that kid (kind of like the Super70sSports guy). Our days of… Read More
2019-09-21 17:33
This past weekend, we moved child #2, our son Nate, into college. The next stop on his life and educational path: Drexel University.
We were all ready for this. My son is prepared for colleg… Read More
2019-08-31 20:56
We just took the boys, teenagers both, to the pediatrician. Now that they’re 15 and 18, that paper we get listing healthy behaviors is more complicated and involved than when they were… Read More
2019-08-21 19:46
I am an English Professor, so I am invested in demonstrating that students who major in English are successful, as measured in various ways. Keep in mind, thought, that I would consider it u… Read More
2019-07-31 20:40
If you’re lucky, your boys are eager readers. If you’re really lucky, your boys are eager writers. But in many households, of course, neither is the case, and folks are in the mi… Read More
2019-07-12 20:19
I have this image in my mind, a little movie, although I can’t remember where I saw it (perhaps it was one of my vivid dreams): A dad pulls into the driveway after a day of work. His t… Read More
2019-06-28 15:35
At one point, my wife and I were young guns, a couple with small kids. We moved into our neighborhood 18 years ago, and it was full of children. Ours were among the youngest. When our &ldquo&hell…Read More
2019-06-07 20:22
We are not strict parents. My boys are the only ones home now, and while I don’t think I should be their best bud, we have an easy, pleasant rapport. However, I sometimes think my relu… Read More
2019-05-22 21:17
As a parent, you are lead to believe that part of your job is to impart wisdom. You quickly realize that curve of wisdom climbs upward snugly alongside the curve of your progeny’s ages… Read More
2019-05-07 19:21
I had a specific reason for watching the NFL draft last weekend: I was waiting to see when Kelvin Harmon, a wide receiver from North Carolina State who played his high school football at my… Read More
2019-04-25 04:59
When I received my review copy of “Winter Gets Hot” from LibraryThing, all I really knew about the book and its merits was that it was – according to the jacket, at least … Read More
2019-04-23 19:19
My dissertation advisor, Dr. Eli Goldblatt, is retiring after many years at Temple University. I wrote the following as part of a tribute to the great man that took place at Temple on April… Read More
2019-04-22 00:05
He is risen … Christ is risen, indeed …
“We are the Easter people,” Pastor Jim Miles of First Prez-Fort Stockton reminds us ….. and that is what we affirm to… Read More
2019-04-11 20:16
I am happy to announce that I have signed a book contract with Tiny Fox Press. My novel THE GREAT AMERICAN DECEPTION will be published in 2020. A bit more information about the book is here… Read More
2019-03-30 18:38
We blew through The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It was a good spousal bonding experience, if for no other reasons than that she liked it enough to a) watch it all and b) stay awake through (most)… Read More
2019-02-06 21:30
Sorry, haters, but I enjoyed Super Bowl 53. To me, it was anything but a snooze-fest, and I’d say I was surprised that so many people saw it that way except I kept getting jolted with… Read More
2019-02-01 20:46
There was a big moment in South Jersey wrestling last week: Kingsway High School and Rancocas Valley High School squared off in a match. Both teams were comprised of girls.
It’s about… Read More
2019-01-24 22:17
At the very end of 2018, a New Jersey appeals court struck down the use of the PARCC test (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) as a graduation requirement for pu… Read More
2018-12-19 21:16
I stumbled across something last year and tucked it away: Studies show Christmas songs can be bad for your stress and mental state.
With all due respect to those for whom the holidays are t… Read More
2018-12-04 21:31
I was watching the Vikings-Patriots game Sunday, and the announcers were talking (I mean, they’re always talking) about Viking Sheldon Richardson. Unlike most announcer blather, this e… Read More
2018-11-16 20:00
This blog has become difficult to write!
In 2010, when I started, all was easy. The kids around me, including my own, did unusual and sometimes even cute things. I wrote about that stuff. Ot… Read More
2018-11-13 04:59
I have always thought that our votes for those who would lead our nation would come with expectations we, the people, have about how they would strive to respect the trust we place in them… Read More
2018-10-29 23:33
Each day that I head over to my job at Drexel, I think about how I get to be around amazing, motivated students. That’s one of the main benefits of the career I chose.
I say that so yo… Read More
2018-10-08 20:18
PALMYRA, NJ – Science programming at Palmyra High School (PHS) will receive a $15,5000 donation as a result of a Casino Night fundraiser conducted by the Palmyra High School Foundation… Read More
2018-09-19 16:05
Well, it’s about time. We’re playing some D&D. In school. For the good of all.
Anybody who knows anything knows D&D is the greatest game that ever was. I certainly know t… Read More
2018-09-19 04:59
A little bit of family, a little bit of history, and my own, personal experience of how – as Bob Dylan once observed – the times they are a’changin’ …
I am rec… Read More
2018-08-31 21:15
Summer’s getting darn near over for many (as I’ve said before, though, not for me, so direct your sad thoughts elsewhere). Children will be taking to the fields again. Parents wi… Read More
2018-08-13 20:49
I stuck up for the kids. And I stuck up for their devices. I did it right here. I wrote, “This summer, our kids will be a writing a ton.” I said, “We might if not encourage… Read More
2018-07-16 17:57
I am proud of my youngest, Zachary, for concluding his elementary school years (that’s it for us!) by achieving Honor Roll for the year and High Honor Roll for the last marking period… Read More
2018-06-28 21:21
As I trailed the ambulance that transported Nate, my 16-year-old middle child, to the hospital last weekend, it struck me: In all their years playing sports, none of my kids had ever been se… Read More
2018-06-15 15:11
Summer’s here, and the battle against literacy apathy and attrition can be renewed. Now the enemy forces of Screen have added Fortnite to their mix. Also, it’s a World Cup year… Read More
2018-06-01 19:09
Sometimes, you can find warning signs about that thing you’re about to acquire/do — maybe not-so-little indicators that what you want may not be all that great or healthy.
First… Read More
2018-05-28 16:59
It’s been more than forty years since I made my last, final and permanent move out into the civilian world … leaving behind the life of a military brat, which had been mine sinc… Read More
2018-05-18 19:34
I’ve marveled at the war that’s been waged on youth sports through our hypercompetitive culture. Everyone wants their kid to play up. As someone who has become increasingly invol… Read More
2018-05-15 04:59
With Memorial Day rapidly approaching, expect to see more than the usual amount of war movies on television, entertaining us with tales of conflict and character in the battlefield …… Read More
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