Posts by David Benjamin
Halloween… before parents
Halloween… before parents by David Benjamin Time was, Halloween was kid turf — just kids. The grownups’ job was to hunker inside, answer the door and fill bags. On any given Halloween in those Wild West days, a kid could cover every prosperous block from Lemonweir Creek to Elizabeth Street and not spot one adult…
Read More"Seashells and balloons"
“Seashells and balloons” by David Benjamin “Those (bleepin‘) balloons are staying up there.” — Bill Russell, NBA Finals, Game 7, 5 May 1969 MADISON, Wis. — A dinner with my former boss Patrick inevitably cycles ’round to sports talk. We’re both sports mavens. Our conversation often settles into a comforting cadence, an argot and vernacular…
Read MoreA torn tissue of stylish lies
A torn tissue of stylish lies by David Benjamin “He didn’t know he was running for president, so he told the truth… He said he was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia … Now they’re saying it was a mistake. Just like his Kenyan grandmother said he was born in Kenya, and she pointed…
Read MoreWe're all Yankees now
We’re all Yankees now by David Benjamin “Sympathy is something that shouldn’t be bestowed upon the Yankees. Apparently it angers them.” — Bob Feller MADISON, Wis. — With the insinuation of Brett Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court alongside three women too old for him to molest, the Trumpniks have scored another victory — and they’re…
Read MoreRoxie Alexander and General Ed
Roxie Alexander and General Ed by David Benjamin “… Mathematical Practices: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Model with mathematics. Use appropriate tools strategically. Attend to precision. Look for and make use of structure. Look for and express regularity…
Read MoreThe pathological preppie
The pathological preppie by David Benjamin “What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep.” — Brett Kavanaugh (2015) “You’ve got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women.” — Donald Trump MADISON, Wis. — Until I moved to Boston, I had little experience with prep school boys. Even those I’d met were…
Read More"The hard…"
“The hard…” by David Benjamin “JUST a bit outside.” — Bob Uecker, as Harry Doyle, Major League MADISON, Wis. — As long as Japan, Korea and the Dominican Republic keep sending talent to the Major Leagues, no one can credibly claim that baseball is exclusively “America’s pastime.” However, the U.S.A. — specifically, Hollywood — can…
Read MoreImpure wind
Impure wind by David Benjamin “In our age, there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues a political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer.” — George Orwell, Politics and the English Language (1946) MADISON,…
Read MoreA moving day
A moving day by David Benjamin “Footfalls echo in the memory Down the passage which we did not take Towards the door we never opened… ” — T.S. Eliot MADISON, Wis. — I’m sometimes subject to a wave of nostalgia. I got hit by one the other day and almost drove onto the median and…
Read MoreThe yellow dogs of asymmetric war
The yellow dogs of asymmetric war by David Benjamin “I think most people in this country realize that Donald Trump comes from… New York City… a slam-bang, difficult world. It is amazing he is as good as he is. If anything, you have to give him plaudits for the way he has run the country.”…
Read More