I am forced to concede that my last post was, as the French would say, retarded.  (Actually, when a suitable occasion arises, they probably just use the term "Americain".)  I suppose that I had wanted this so badly that I had to protect myself from disappointment with that reliable balm, cynicism. . . . (More)

 I don't really know my neighbors.  Who does?But I can see their future.There's a young couple, no kids, across the street, and I was looking across at their yard from my balcony when something about it struck me as odd - a little cartoonish.  I at first thought my ragged neurons were to bl . . . (More)