My version of the George Ella Lyon poem of the same title: I am from black-and-white television.From Swanson’s and Kellogg’s and Coca-Cola.I am from the ranch dressing of homes, with a back yard littered by dog poop, where I could snatch my own thoughts out of warm air.I am from the cocoa bean, bitter but … Continue reading Where I’m From
UPDATED: Notes on the Trump Mob
Updated thoughts and images shared on the first anniversary of the failed January 6th insurrection in Washington DC.
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Christmas in the Room
Song by Sufjan Stevens. Performed by Third Ed Novak
Edward A. Novak, Jr. 1931-2021
Passed away on December 6, 2021, Edward Andrew Novak, Jr. of Sterling, Va., retired physician, naval officer and Kiwanian, devoted father of Edward A. Novak III, of Greenbelt, Md.; and cherished grandfather of Anna H. Novak of Lower Allen Township, Pa., and Katharine N.N. Allgood of Susquehanna Township, Pa.
Top 100 Issues That Keep Me Awake at Night
What issues or fears keep you up at night? Here's my list, limited to the top 100...
What Happens When Writers Don’t Write?
When I write, the practice is all consuming and thrilling and exhausting. But there are times when I want to read, and reading is all consuming and thrilling and exhausting, too.
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“Diet Mountain Dew” [Yet Another Version]
Diet mountain dew, baby, New York City Have you ever seen a girl so pretty? Do you think we'll be in love forever? Do you think we'll be in love?
Ulysses: All Parents Damage Their Kids
They strolled leisurely to Birgit’s apartment and talked about their children. Perhaps for the first time today, Hopper relaxed. He admired the lengths to which Charlize went to protect her children from all the ways that parents encourage and feed their children’s paranoia and neuroses. “All parents damage their kids,” she said. “I just want to keep that damage to a minimum.”
That Funny Feeling (Boomer Version)
Richard Nixon, Betty Draper, Dien Bien Phu Coronavirus, Walter Cronkite, Star Wars, 2 Live Crew Edmund Muskie, Simone Biles, rising student debt Napalm Children, Civil Rights, brand new cigarette There it is again, that funny feeling That funny feeling
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Goodbye, Pandemic Ed
As the pandemic hit the East Coast, my barber shop closed. At the same time, people began to improvise masks. I vowed not to cut my hair again until an efficacious vaccine was running through Dr. Fauci’s and my veins. I was able to amuse myself in many ways, among them my "art project": creating a monthly “Hair and Mask Update” on social media.
Third Ed Novak 