Why must I be a (filthy rich, 80-year-old) teenager in love?

FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#674) Why must I be a (filthy rich, 80-year-old) teenager in love? by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — If you listen to the full nine-minute dialog between L.A. Clippers erstwhile owner Donald Sterling and his mistress, V. Stiviano, you come across one of those prickly been-there, done-that moments…

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Things kids used to do

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#663) Things kids used to do by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Let’s say you’re about 13 years old and you’re walking along next to the highway… You noticed, didn’t you? We’re not talking about a contemporary 13-year-old here, are we? This is a way-long time ago, like…

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Alice returns to Dairyland

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013 The Weekly Screed (#642) Alice returns to Dairyland by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Earlier this month, I cajoled Alice out of New Jersey and back to Madison, where we celebrated her 50th anniversary as a teacher in the town where her career began. The occasion marked Alice’s reunion with several…

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Something in the air

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2013 The Weekly Screed (#639) Something in the air by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — From place to place, the air is always different. Or so it seems. Most of us, if we sense this at all, register these shades of difference not palpably or knowingly, but in the region beneath perception,…

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“Now it’s time to say goodbye to all our company…”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2013 The Weekly Screed (#623) “Now it’s time to say goodbye to all our company…” by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — With her death this week, the swiftly-reached media consensus about former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher is that she was a “transformational” figure. Perhaps so, but… overshadowed by the obituaries and…

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