by Mark O'Brien | May 4, 2015
Since I mentioned the summer of 1964 in a previous post, I offer this one about a more recent encounter prompted by my having read the news item below: WESTBROOK, CONN – The Westbrook Fire Marshall is trying to determine the cause of an early morning fire at 20 Cherry...
by Mark O'Brien | May 1, 2015
Since we’ve now published 150 posts — and since they generate a veritable avalanche of cards and letters from our legions of readers — we’re going to share some of them on occasion … because we want to. We tried to think of another reason, but we...
by Mark O'Brien | Apr 30, 2015
I don’t know if I’m your garden-variety hoarder. But I do tend to be a rather indiscriminate and prolific accumulator of thoughts. And I like to hang onto them until two or more present common threads in some form or fashion. In this instance, three of...
by Mark O'Brien | Apr 29, 2015
Here’s one of the most commonly dispensed, least-examined admonitions I can think of: “Don’t burn your bridges.” Provided you exercise at least a modicum of discernment and discrimination, why not? To establish the point, I offer this brief,...
by Mark O'Brien | Apr 28, 2015
There’s a difference between melting and dissolution, as witnessed in the contrast between America’s former glory as the world’s Melting Pot — and today’s inglorious reality of cultural conflict, class friction, and political palaver about...