PinnedMember-onlyMissing My NanaOr, The Pound Cake Madeleine — In Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, he talks about how the combination of a madeleine and a cup of tea unexpectedly brought memories from his childhood rushing back. …Self9 min readSelf9 min read
PinnedMember-only22 of My New Favorite ThingsBrad’s Best of 2020 — A friend of my father’s once said to me, “There is no ice water in hell.” I was 10 and had no clue what he was talking about. That phrase came back to me recently, as I realized that even in this annus horribilis, there are some things worth celebrating. …Best Of8 min readBest Of8 min read
PinnedMember-onlyMusings Upon a Close Reading of The Little Drummer BoyThe Little Drummer Boy (TLDB in future references) is homeless. Alternatively, he is the champion of a tribe of desert-dwelling LDB’s (which is why he is TLDB as opposed to ALDB), but this analysis is highly problematic for reasons I will elucidate later in this work. TLDB is not only…Christmas4 min readChristmas4 min read
Feb 20, 2021Member-onlyBest Thing I Saw Today (Feb 19, 2021)On one of my old reliable local radio stations, they would call this a triple shot! Three versions of the same song. Ready?Music1 min readMusic1 min read
Feb 16, 2021Member-onlyThe Best Thing I Saw Today (15 Feb 2021)Years ago, when Facebook was still a toddler, I used to post the best thing I saw that day. Now that I have divested myself of all social media, I’m…Music1 min readMusic1 min read
Dec 7, 2020Member-onlyThe Wilma presents Will Arbery’s ‘Heroes of the Fourth Turning’Having seen my first dramatic performance, Eugene Ionesco’s Macbett, at the Wilma Project on Sansom Street in 1987, and having kept up with the theater ever since, I contend that the last 18 months have been the most powerful, fecund, daring, and fully realized stretch of productions in the Wilma’s…Theatre Review4 min readTheatre Review4 min read
Nov 10, 2020Member-onlyThe Biden Fantasy Cabinet GameIf sports fans can have fantasy teams, politics wonks can have fantasy cabinets. This is a community activity, and the point is to get someone on the Biden Transition team to notice and take the will of the people into account when making their choices. Rules: DO NOT RESPOND IN THE…Biden2 min readBiden2 min read
Aug 14, 2020Member-onlyThat Championship ProcessThe Philadelphia 76'ers will win the 2020 NBA Championship. That’s a guarantee. You seem confused by my statement. Oh, I’m sorry. I was unclear. There is a chance that this current 76'ers team might be champions — A Horford, Tobias Harris, and Josh Richardson isn’t a bad big three. …Sports3 min readSports3 min read
Jul 22, 2020Member-onlyAction Steps to Decriminalize the USALet’s Decriminalize The USA As a white male, I cannot possibly understand what black folks have gone through and are currently going through in this racist country of ours. Because I cannot understand, I can neither sympathize nor empathize, as both of those require understanding. Some writers have a problem with the concept of…Police6 min readPolice6 min read
Jul 21, 2020Member-onlyYour Dream Playwrighting Conference: Tips for ApplyingA long-time reader demystifies the selection process. — Recently, I read one article about sending your book manuscript to an agent, and another about getting your short stories published in magazines. As I looked around, I didn’t see anything similar for playwrights, and since I am a theatre worker through and through, I decided I’d write one. In…Playwrighting12 min readPlaywrighting12 min read