-
James Betelle, Where Are You?
Last year on this site I wrote a little essay about The Pinewood Derby. Since writing it, nagging thoughts persisted; what had happened to my school since I was last there, nearly 30 years ago? Is it as I remembered? Is my grafitti still on the bathroom wall?* My foray into answering these questions led…
-
Raisins Don’t Belong in Cookies.
I like raisins. Really I do: in cereal, on stuffed cabbage, even straight from the box if need be. But I loathe them in oatmeal cookies. They’re just *wrong* being there, It feels like I’m biting into chewy little insect parts or something. ????? ????????? ??????? I always thought this was a peculiar quirk of…
-
I Was Always Scotty
I am a Star Trek fan. And when I say “Star Trek”, I refer to the television series that ran from 1966 to 1969, not the various incarnations that followed (except some of the movies). As a kid growing up in the 70s, Star Trek was a Saturday evening ritual (6 o’clock on Channel 11,…
-
The Pinewood Derby
Elementary school in the 1970’s still had the vestigial patina of post-war civic high-mindendess, so along with the book fairs, assemblies (when it was still ok to sing Christmas carols) and field trips to the local police station (we were fingerprinted!), the Cub Scouts came calling. I was never much of a joiner, but somehow…