Category Archives: Uncategorized

Variant Cover to “Doom 2099” #1, Gerardo Zaffino, 2019

Cover D.  Marvel Comics.

There is a new page here at the site for 2025 poetry publications.

And check out the photo there of a creepy tree out in Salem, Virginia.  Seriously, that thing is straight out of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'” (1937) haunted forest.

Poetry, 2025



“If you write … someone will try to make you feel lousy about it.”

The Highland Tower in Thompson, Manitoba, photo by Bobak Ha’Eri, 2009

Photo credit: Bobak Ha’Eri, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

My poetry was translated into Chinese for a third time by the Poetry Hall quarterly bilingual journal.

Wonderful news!  Poetry Hall translated selections of my work into Chinese for a third time.  The quarterly bilingual journal printed my poems “Feast,” “Bumblebee,” and “she” in Issue 27, which you can order right here at Amazon.  The publication has a truly interesting format in that it features poems in both languages, side by side.

Poetry Hall is a not-for-profit journal that is published by the Chinese Poetry Association.  Its mission is to “introduce well-written Chinese and English poetry to the world in both its original language and translation forms. ”  It showcases work from contributors worldwide, and also has a global readership.



Don’t forget your “Closing Arguments!” (Tomorrow at 7:30 PM at 302 Campbell Avenue.)

You can buy your tickets right here.



Throwback Thursday: “Top Gun” (1986)

“Top Gun” (1986) was the second movie I ever saw with Val Kilmer.  (I’ve written here before about how much I loved 1985’s “Real Genius.”)  Kilmer made a great story antagonist, and the difference between his role here and the preceding year’s affable prodigy really showed his versatility as an actor.

What a flick “Top Gun” was, too.  Sure, it’s easy to make fun of after 40 years.  But it still made an indelible mark on the culture.

I’ve heard that Kilmer even has a role in 2022’s sequel.  I haven’t seen it yet; I might have to rectify that soon.

[I am linking below to Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers on Youtube.]



Cover to “Batman” #203, Neal Adams, 1968

DC Comics.

Rest easy, Val Kilmer.

News broke this morning that the actor passed away at age 65.



Photo credit: Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

No, there was no escaped tiger running around Cave Spring yesterday.

That was an April Fool’s joke.

I’ve gotta hand it to you people — you’re sharp.  There were verrrry few people who fell for my ruse this year.  (You distinguished believers know who you are.)

Maybe I went too far in naming the fictional “Jowicker” zoological agency.  Or maybe my citing of witness “April Flanagan” was a little too on the nose.

Oh, well.  I can still reminisce with pride about last year’s gem of a hoax.  That one actually worked a little too well — I spent days afterward clarifying for people that I had not joined a traveling dance company for middle-aged performers.