Am I the only one who wonders if John Lennon was channeling John Berryman's Dreamsongs when Lennon wrote "Come Together"? Here come old flattop he come grooving up slowly He got joo-joo eyeball he one holy roller He got hair down to his knee Got...

I am a bit more than a third through Jim Harrison's The Farmer's Daughter (Grove Press, 2009), a collection of three novellas. I started with the second story, "Brown Dog Redux," in which Harrison revisits the title character, a good-hearted...

The Great Blizzard of 2009 is thus far a complete bust. Threatened by our weather forecasters with up to 20 inches of snow, we have received approximately half an inch. For all the alleged scientific advancements in recent years, the forecasts were...

We spent a long Thanksgiving week visiting Marcia's Mother and Stepfather in Gearhart, Oregon. Above is a photograph of Marcia, Liam and Carlos on the beach. Today is the last day of class for the semester. I have to collect final papers and my...

I remember that my friend Eddie Cullen had a copy of Phil Ochs In Concert (Elektra Records, 1966). In the liner notes, Ochs reprinted eight poems by Mao Tse Tung with the question, "Is This the Enemy?" I thought it was hilarious when Eddie's sister...