As a child born at the end of 1962, I caught the dying gasp of the Beatles run as a band. My family bought a copy of the 45 RPM single Let it Be, released in 1970. I suppose by that time, the band was already a thing of the past, but my older brothers … Continue reading Lost Your Hair
Author: Jeff Cann
A Novel Idea
That proverbial clean slate. Everything is going to change. No, this isn’t about the Charlie Kirk killing and the impending civil war I contend has already started. And no, it’s not a nod to the YA novel The Maze Runner when the Gladers find Teresa in the box, and she cryptically blurts out this line. … Continue reading A Novel Idea
The Way
All the “God” I need My wife Susan and I drove past a church the other day. Out front, a sign read TGIF! I entered high school in the mid-seventies. At the time, poster sales proliferated record stores, drug stores, and Sears department stores—cute animals from kittens to seals, ugly animals from bulldogs to hippos, … Continue reading The Way
Headbanger
Papa was a headbanger. No, I didn’t call my father Papa, but when I wrote “Dad was a headbanger,” the Temptations song Papa was a Rolling Stone popped into my head. I needed to change what I wrote. Of course, Suzy is a Headbanger by the Ramones could have just as easily sprung up in … Continue reading Headbanger
Bad Medicine
After the library book sale, I boxed up the Native American table. It’s a mindless task. Grab an unfolded box from the stack on the floor. Give it structure, the shape of a box. Maryann slashes two strips of packing tape in the shape of a cross on the bottom with her tape gun. Fill … Continue reading Bad Medicine
Codger
Walking around the block, Susan and I pass the Columbia Gas family playing in their yard. The young couple, maybe late twenties, with two kids, an infant and a toddler, are one of the few families consistently outdoors. I know I should be able to supply a name rather than reference the work-truck parked in … Continue reading Codger
Self-Care = Junk Food?
Early in the week, June texted me. I’ve got a credenza and three file cabinets. She’s clearing out her home office, finally retired, the library where I work as good a donation recipient as anyone. A few weeks ago, she dropped off a big box of office supplies. I texted back the next day. Can … Continue reading Self-Care = Junk Food?
Windows to my Soul
At my 8th grade lunch table, we compared hands, budding palm readers, one and all. Marcus Pappas blurted out "Cann's and mine look like old lady hands." He had a point—thin and boney—but it irked me that he said this out loud. Marcus died thirty-five years ago while still good looking, except, I suppose, his … Continue reading Windows to my Soul
Well Played Mr. Trump
So *this* is who we are! Sally Edelstein’s blog Envisioning the American Dream included a post yesterday (July third, the day the house approved the senate version of Project 2025) that mourned the loss of American exceptionalism. To her, exceptionalism meant a country striving towards the ideal stated in the last line of the original … Continue reading Well Played Mr. Trump
The End of Wonder
Remember 2022, the golden era of the internet? Back then, a reel popped up on my Instagram feed. Security footage captures a man sitting on a Target-ball in front of a store. Target-ball? You know what I mean, those large red concrete balls spaced in front of Target’s glass entryway. They make smash-and-grab rammings nearly … Continue reading The End of Wonder
The Growing Threat of Violence
He stood on the corner before me as I crossed the street. His head bobbing and nodding, making eye contact, his lips already moving before I even made it to the sidewalk. A Fox 43 camera dangled at his side. I couldn't hear him—a live version of Folsom Prison Blues by the Dream Syndicate filled my ears—but I … Continue reading The Growing Threat of Violence
No Kings!
Read on a sign: You can’t spell HATRED without RED HAT. Following the George Floyd murder in 2020, after conservative America began its backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement, Susan and I joined a protest. A few hundred people, mostly college professors, nonprofit workers and retirees, encircled the Gettysburg town square. We held signs … Continue reading No Kings!
Reading Options for the End of the World
DR: Frequently, I write articles for various Gettysburg area publications promoting the library where I work. As an organization, we supply a minimum of three articles to these publications each week. That's 156 articles each year written by ten or fifteen employees. As you can imagine, it gets hard to keep the content fresh. As … Continue reading Reading Options for the End of the World
Duck Appropriation
I first read about the ducks during the early days of the pandemic. An out-of-work elementary teacher wrote a blog post about ducking. When she spotted a Jeep in a parking lot, she squeezed a rubber duck into the door handle. A gift for a kindred soul, she said, knowing that all Jeep owners are … Continue reading Duck Appropriation
Loss
Me, posturing with my comment, trying to seem smart on a smart person’s blog: The detritus from abandoned blogs and terminated online relationships makes my last 12 years hard to revisit. I felt like some of those bloggers were among my best friends until one day they disappeared for good. I often think about looking … Continue reading Loss
So Much More Than Tics
We finished the class with standing sprints to Bring Me to Life by Evanescence, a five-minute climb to 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Up, and cooled-down to The Jam’s That’s Entertainment. As the opening bars to Beck’s Loser filled the room, the spinners slowed their pedals to a stop, dropped their heels, and stretched their calf … Continue reading So Much More Than Tics
Reunited?
Reunited, and it feels so goodReunited, 'cause we understoodThere's one perfect fitAnd sugar, this one is itWe both are so excited'Cause we're reunited, hey, hey Reunited, a Peaches and Herb song from my high school years. So distant from the music I preferred—Springsteen, Beatles, Thorogood, CSNY, the Stones, and of course the breaking new wave … Continue reading Reunited?
Mmmm
“Mmmm.” A dozen voices in unison. Heads nod, claps splatter, polite, but well intentioned. “Wooo, Jenny!” One guy does the snapping thing. By the third reader, I begin to anticipate the Mmmm, an exclamation of knowing approval. After every poem: Mmmm. By coincidence, this happened a couple of weeks ago during an interview. A strong … Continue reading Mmmm
The Biggest Lie of 75,000
“I will stop the war in one day.” How many times did he say it? How many times was it repeated by his followers, his minions? “Only Trump can stop the war.” So, what’s my problem? Why get hung up on this specific lie? So many others: I’ll reduce grocery prices. And gas prices. Mexico … Continue reading The Biggest Lie of 75,000
He Dug Metallic Gold
As a kid, I read the cereal box while I ate breakfast. No, I’m not the only one. My brothers did this too, and on TV, characters on sit-coms and commercials would sometimes be shown reading the box. I think it was a thing. Sugary cereals often had content printed on the box to distract … Continue reading He Dug Metallic Gold
The Other Stuff 