It was 1952 and the rotary telephone was just beginning to replace rural party lines and the need to ask a live operator to dial the desired number. And cell phones were something prisoners were allowed to use to make their obligatory single call presumably to a lawyer or their bookie. In October of that … Continue reading You may already be a winner
Author: D.P. Benjamin
The Paul Lucas Factor
My dear friend, Paul Lucas, called the other day from somewhere up in the frozen north. He is a talented musician and music instructor and the help-mate of my late friend Tina Kjolhede. I'll add a link to his website and his music at the end of this short tribute. Among the memories Paul and … Continue reading The Paul Lucas Factor
Wolf Moon
Let me tell you about my older brother and the dark and monsters. I was a fearful child. Until my tenth birthday I had crippling night fears. I avoided the dark, which I imagined to be populated with werewolves. Here's the thing about monsters: I wasn't afraid of the Frankenstein monster who lurched awkwardly from … Continue reading Wolf Moon
The Average Human Heart
The average human heart weighs about ten ounces—that’s more than a gerbil and less than a can of soup. And yet, sometimes, the heart can seem so very heavy. But there are friends and puppies and kittens and sunsets and rainbows and fields and mountains and rivers and soup to make the heart feel lighter. … Continue reading The Average Human Heart
Yahoo Announces a Multi-million Dollar Settlement: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Yahoo might pay millions to settle a class action suit. In an email blast date-stamped at 2:47 p.m. on Friday, September 13, 2019, the ever-shrinking email giant Yahoo! Incorporated has announced "a pending class action settlement." Long story short, the Friday the Thirteenth message reported that Yahoo (I'm eliminating the ! for now) has been … Continue reading Yahoo Announces a Multi-million Dollar Settlement: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
American Packaging
If you have ever been tempted to use a machete to open a package of potato chips, or stood heart-broken at a sailboat railing as an unsightly and unholy artificial island composed of Styrofoam (a trademark) and plastic bottles drifted by, then you know how I feel each time I struggle with the curse of … Continue reading American Packaging
To the Monkey Bars
Remember the grade school track meet where you earned a ribbon for finishing among the top three runners? First place received a red ribbon, second got blue, and third got green. The girls in my class were fast. I attribute their speed to the habit of boys relentlessly pursuing them during recess. Naturally they were … Continue reading To the Monkey Bars
Who’s This Anne We Keep Hearing About?
Anyone who has read summaries and previews and beta copies of my upcoming novels has noticed that I use the name Anne a lot. ANNE SCRIPTOR is the spunky young hero of my Mountain Mystery novels. And the Wolfkin Princess of my Middlemount Fantasy series is named ANN OF MIDDLEMOUNT. The name Ann (the 'e' … Continue reading Who’s This Anne We Keep Hearing About?
A Working Artist
What does a working artist do? Is artwork work or art or both? These are questions I asked myself this morning at 4 a.m. as darkness was dissolving into dawn and the songbirds were tuning up and the coffee was brewing. Now, class, what do we notice about the image above? Yes, it is predominantly … Continue reading A Working Artist