Curations from the Human Jungle
[The 4131 breweries that operated in the United States in 1873 had dwindled to 42 in 1978 when I set off to discover "the secrets of the suds." The question foremost in my brain was "How did American beer get to such a sorry state and what does the future hold." The story of this... Continue Reading →
[These memories date from the 1950s. SB SM] What do you remember of Thanksgivings of yore? I remember it, above all else, as being the most boring day of the year. Here's why: There are no other kids to play with. Everyone else has gone over the river and through the woods to their grandmother's... Continue Reading →
[Another excerpt from my never-to-be-published memoir, Extra-Ordinary. SB SM] Of all acts of the parental experience, none is as poignant as dropping a kid off at college. The fruit of your loins is now fully on his/her/ or their own. Is there any acknowledgement or moment of appreciation? Never. There was no welcoming fanfare as... Continue Reading →
[Here's a depressing, but insightful and well-written piece to start your day. SB SM] The Washington Post: Democracy Dies in Darkness Opinion It’s good to remember: We are all on borrowed time By Anne Lamott October 30, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT Anne Lamott is an American novelist and nonfiction writer. Her latest book, “Somehow: Thoughts on... Continue Reading →
[I'm beginning to feel the same way about museum as I feel about zoos. I used to love them, but now I find them offensive symbols of exploitation and repression. If you want to see a gorilla, get your ass over to Africa and observe them in their native habitat. Don't pay a poacher to... Continue Reading →
["Extra-Ordinary" is the title of my never-finished, never-published memoir, or is it an autobiography? The title is a play on the word extraordinary, which denotes something anything but ordinary. By putting in the hyphen my intent is to communicate that the only thing exceptional about my life is that it has been ordinary to the... Continue Reading →
[I never ran track. I never took one of his classes, and yet I felt very close to this guy. Times were turbulent when I left high school (1966) and yet the one thing that students at Moses Brown School could agree was the Doc Odell was the coolest member of the faculty. He spoke... Continue Reading →
[This is another excerpt from from my long-awaited, highly-anticipated entitled Extra-Ordinary: A Step-by-Step Memwah. Here's an update from the author: "You're going to have to keep awaiting and highly-anticipating for a long time, because this sucker ain't never gonna see the light of day, except here on the ephemeral pages of Silverback Digest. SB SM]... Continue Reading →
[SB Babs suggested this. I should have thought of it myself. SB SM] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNvYSk2KmSY from SB JT: Jimmy Buffett invented his own character, which, in a sense we all do: invent, assemble, inherit, or fall into our inner identity. But Jimmy was the founder of an actual tribe: tens of thousands of us made our... Continue Reading →
[This is the official 1000th post on Silverback Digest. I asked my fellow dwellers in The Jungle where we should go next, and here's how they responded. Thanks to all of you who came up with such great suggestions. SB SM] 21 thoughts on “Closing in on 1,000 … Asking for Your Help.” Steven Shepard... Continue Reading →