Essays
1093 results
Page 86
Virtual goodbyes: Death and the Internet
Life after death, on the Internet
Since the jeweler Dan Henley died unexpectedly last year at the age of 49, his life has assumed a dimension it never possessed before— on the Internet.
Essays
3 minute read
What's in a nickname?
A rose by any other
As I've moved through life, I've also moved through a succession of nicknames. “Robert” lingers only on the lips of my 98-year-old mother and one or two ossified cousins. So what will my classmates call me next month when I show up at my 50th high school reunion?
Fighting Steve Wynn: A civics lesson
Up against a casino mogul (from one who lived to tell the tale)
Philadelphians were shocked recently when the Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn abruptly withdrew from his deal to develop the Foxwoods casino. But some of us— who successfully fought Wynn's attempt to hijack the Maxfield Parrish Dream Garden mural in 1998— knew better. There's a lesson here for timid Philadelphians: The supposed movers and shakers aren't always as tough or resourceful as you think.
Essays
4 minute read
NCAA basketball returns to its essence
A Final Four for the Age of Obama (i.e., change you can believe in)
White kids are back, team play is back— at this year's NCAA tournament, college basketball seemed to return to its simpler roots, even in a 71,000-seat stadium.
Essays
8 minute read
The Meadowlands: Quest for dilapidation
Man vs. Nature, or something: An artist in the Meadowlands
According to popular belief, the New Jersey Meadowlands is a swamp where things go in and never come out. I went there in search of an idea for a grant proposal about the eternal struggle between Man and Nature. Couldn't find that, either.
Essays
5 minute read
The trouble with Frank Lloyd Wright
Never ask a genius to check his math
Let the record show: Frank Lloyd Wright was an architectural genius. And woe unto anyone who tries to live or work in one of his buildings. So why this continued blind worship?
Essays
4 minute read
Joys of spring training
Baseball: The best part is already over
Charlie Manuel, the Phillies' manager couldn't wait to finish spring training. But for me and many others, Florida baseball in March is a much more intimate experience than anything you'll find up North during the regular season.
Essays
4 minute read
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Priestly abuse: It happened to me
Molested at five, silent no more
Believe me, no one wants to go public with admissions that they were abused by a priest. That is why so many of us have kept silent for 40 or 50 year and more. Now I am so seriously nauseated by the Church's apologists that I am moved to describe here what it's like to be molested by a priest.
Essays
4 minute read
Artists, writers and taxes: Another Philadelphia story
Don't tax my syntax!
Philadelphia makes struggling free-lance writers and artists purchase a Business Privilege License, just like Comcast. Am I the only creative soul who's been driven from the city for this reason?
Essays
2 minute read
Two lovers on Spruce Street (poem)
Two lovers on Spruce Street
These two lovers are— if you could add them up— one hundred and fifty-six years old.
Essays
1 minute read