Upcoming Events:
Monday, 9 June, 10:30 am
Book Talk, An Apartment in Paris, Fitchburg Community Center, 5510 Lacy Road, Fitchburg, Wis.
Saturday, 14 June, 1-3 pm
Meet & Greet, Barnes & Noble, West Towne, Madison
Thursday, 19 June, 10 am
Book Talk, An Apartment in Paris, Middleton Community Center, 7448 Hubbard Ave. Middleton Wis.
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The Weekly Screed
by David Benjamin “The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility; humility is endless.” — T.S. Eliot MADISON, Wis. — For a writer, humility is a survival strategy. I get reminders of this on a daily basis. The silver lining about being humiliated, often by anonymous strangers, is that the…
Read More...by David Benjamin “I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart.” — Rosa Parks CHIGASAKI, Japan — Last week, sitting (thankfully) on the crowded Tokaido Line commuter train between Yokohama and Odawara, I had…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three…
Read More...by David Benjamin “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” — Pope Francis MADISON, Wis.—When Pope Francis made his extraordinary pilgrimage to the Congo and South Sudan…
Read More...by David Benjamin “… De Crawfishes, honey. Dey bo’d inter de groun’ en kep’ on bo’in twel dey onloost de fountains er de yeth; en de waters squirt out, en riz higher twel de hills wuz kivvered en de creeturs wuz all drowned; en all bekaze dey let on ‘mong deyselves dat dey wuz bigger…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Wide brimmed and narrow, some tall, some not, some fancy, some colorful, some plaid, some plain. She doted on changing hats at every opportunity. When she met the Prince, she was wearing one hat, when he asked her for a stroll, she excused herself, shortly to return wearing another, equally flattering.” — William…
Read More...by David Benjamin ““January 6 happened, and … I will tell you something. If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would’ve been armed.” — Marjorie Taylor Greene MADISON, Wis.— During the same week that Kevin McCarthy sniveled, groveled and weaseled his way into an impotent Speakership…
Read More...by David Benjamin “I don’t take responsibility at all.” — Trump WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a shocking Friday the 13th bombshell, Jack Smith, a Justice Department special counsel assigned by Attorney General Merrick Garland to hound Donald Trump to his grave, announced that all investigations of the ex-president have been indefinitely suspended. Smith, who brought to his…
Read More...by David Benjamin “My road of good intentions/ Led where such roads always lead/ No good deed/ Goes unpunished … ” — Idina Menzel, from Wicked THE NORTH POLE — For a few days after Christmas Eve, Santa Claus is dead to the world, sleeping off his whirlwind journey, soothing the bruises from squeezing…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Winter is icumen in,/ Lhude sing Goddamm,/ Raineth drop and staineth slop,/ And how the wind doth ramm!/ Sing: Goddamm…” — Ezra Pound, “Ancient Music” MADISON, Wis.—When does winter start? Although I’ve seen a hell of a lot of winter by now, I hesitate to pin down the exact moment that…
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