What do my dreams say, and do I want to know?
I had another sports-inspired dream last night, and this time it was about baseball. I was standing in the batter’s box against a hard-throwing right-hander and I stepped out to regain my focus after...
View ArticleDangerous times
As I explained in one of my recent columns, I’m trying to limit my intake of cable-TV news because it gets my blood to boil. The less I know the better company I’ll be. But I’m still too well...
View ArticleWho should think for you?
(UPDATE: Kim Davis was released from jail on Tuesday with the judge’s warning that she must not attempt to influence her co-workers who agreed to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. This blog...
View ArticleCheap books, and other peculiarities
So I was at my own book signing event a couple of weeks ago at the public library in Spirit Lake, Iowa. My publisher set this up for me, and although I hardly know anybody in Spirit Lake, I went ahead...
View ArticleSlow on the uptake
On the occasion of my wife’s September birthday, I gave her a card that on the front flap said, “Honey, I’d be lost without you”, and on the inside flap said, “Not to mention cold, hungry, dressed...
View ArticleDon’t worry; it’s just the Lions
I was watching my Detroit Lions play the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night with my friend Bruce. I mentioned to him that I happen to be an intensely loyal person. It’s one of my biggest defects as a...
View ArticleFrosty toads
Up until this past week, I’ve tried tenaciously to hold onto that last little bit of summer. But the jig is up. Last week, the nets at the Worthington middle school tennis courts were taken down,...
View ArticleThe greatest short story book ever written
I read enough books and see enough book promotions to know that the really successful authors are shameless self-promoters. I’ve always been a little skittish at that game, but now that my sixth book...
View ArticleStory excerpt from “Absolute Summer and Other Stories”
Here is an excerpt from “PEF Rancourt’s World,” one of 10 short stories contained in Doug Wolter’s new book “Absolute Summer and Other Stories.” The story “PEF Rancourt’s World” is set in the future,...
View ArticleA story excerpt from “Absolute Summer and Other Stories”
Here is an excerpt from “The Global Athletic Legitimacy League,” one of 10 short stories contained in Doug Wolter’s new book “Absolute Summer and Other Stories.” In the humorous story “The Global...
View ArticleWhat is required of us?
I remember watching reports from Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991, when Operation Desert Shield commenced. The pictures of spectacular explosions in Saddam Hussein’s sand box had an effect on me that I hadn’t...
View ArticleWhat is required of us?
I remember watching reports from Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991, when Operation Desert Shield commenced. The pictures of spectacular explosions in Saddam Hussein’s sand box had an effect on me that I hadn’t...
View ArticleNothing goes together like football and holidays
My teen-age grandson Clay seemed stunned on Thanksgiving Day when he stepped into my family room to spy myself and two of his uncles watching the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles tangle on TV. It...
View ArticleRed lights, green lights, or white?
I’d love to bestow my personal award for the most Scrooge-like anti-Christmas accounts I’ve heard, but where would I start? There are so many examples. And every year, they seem to get more and more...
View ArticleIt’s the little things
My advice on this Christmas Eve is to sit back and reflect. You may not have very much time for that, of course, because at this very moment you might have a house-full of relatives on your hands. You...
View ArticleGoing home again
Going home again A short story I read this week got me thinking about what I think is an almost universal human desire to go home — to return to one’s roots — to experience our youthful lives all over...
View ArticleNew definitions of sportsmanship
I went to a high school basketball game in Worthington last week and I saw the most outrageous displays of unsportsmanlike behavior. The situation was no better the next evening when I covered the...
View ArticleThe sound of silence
You’ve got to be careful what you ask for in a Christmas gift, because you just might get it. I usually ask for a Barnes and Noble gift card for Christmas, and little else. I’m not good at making...
View ArticleShawn Fury having more fun than a writer should be allowed
The life of a writer is hard and lonely. Well, that’s what we’re told, at least. It’s even harder and lonelier when tasked to write a book. But Shawn Fury, author of “Rise and Fire: The Origins,...
View ArticleSpring and baseball: The perfect combination
Spring always arrives at just the right time. I said spring, but of course I’m mostly talking about baseball. Winters are long here, and just when you think you’ve shoveled your last scoopful of heavy...
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