Strange songs haunt the fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 in Berlin. “Old Hildebrand,” a story of a parson’s attempt to seduce a peasant’s wife, ends with a rousing…
Posts published in “Essays”
John Cardinal O’Connor, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, proposed recently the canonization of Dorothy Day. If she makes it through that long process, it would only be fitting for the Pope to come…
When Alvin Mendosa’s long-time friend, Buddy Fraser, passed away in 2018, Alvin received a copy of Buddy’s memoir of town life during World War II. Alvin recognized a little gem when he saw it, and…
The art of conversation, or at least practice, is as dead and gone as your grandmother’s DeSoto sedan. This didn’t happen last week nor last decade but it makes no difference. We no longer sit…
Back home in the racist flatlands of Northern Indiana to visit my old man I decided to not hassle him for one day, twenty-four hours of no judgements, accusations, or advice. By day two I…
In the late 1980s I felt guilty about using an old boys’ network to secure a teaching position at Sonoma State University (SSU), a branch of the California State University system. I even discussed my…
Live! Laugh! Love! has been the constellation navigation Big Dipper guide to my carefree journey through life. Nothing but severe diarrhea touches me so deeply as the simple, affirming message of “Live! Laugh! Love!” Together…
It is axiomaticaily true that the Church of Rome moves slowly. But it has been on this earth almost 2,000 years, and it has yet to get around to doing anything serious about implementing Christ’s…
Another entry for my bulging file of cab-ride tales. Slipped out early from work and went book shopping, emerging into cold winds on lower Van Ness in San Francisco, with no 47 or 49 bus…