"Sovereigns cannot rebel."
--Jefferson Davis

In our society of materialism and conformity, I see among even my solid citizen friends an urge to rebel that becomes stronger as the middle class is threatened economically, here in the first decade of the 21st Century. The urge to Fight the Power becomes even stronger when the power doesn't seem to be doing its job. We normal joes have been more or less taken for granted. When President George W. Bush said at a political dinner "I'm here with my friends, the Haves and the Have Mores," I hated him with a white hot intensity that has finally faded to pity for the unbelievable insensitivity that he displayed by saying it out loud on TV. Rich people are not your friends.

I was always a Good Boy in my family, who played it straight. As a teen and young adult, women were drawn to me, if they were, as a potential husband, not as a Bad Boy. Hell, I survived a 26 year career in Civil Service; that...

"Here's Cathy who's lived most everywhere
From Paris, France to Berkeley Square
But Patty's only seen the sights
A girl can see from Brooklyn Heights
What a crazy pair!"
--The Patty Duke Show, early Sixties

If one could see the past unfolding like a movie, some of the most interesting characters would walk right by my door, here in the small neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, in the Borough of Kings County. Some people think I feel that New York City is the Center of the Universe. Don't be silly. Brooklyn is the Center of the Universe. Let's watch some of these people as they stroll by us:

*George Washington and the entire Continental Army of 1776, hotly pursued by General Lord Howe and the British. Colonel Hand and his First Pennsylvania Continentals, first in and last out, who watched the British land down in Graves End Bay, and now cover the retreat across to Manhattan. The commander looks at the colonel down at...

"I want to be a part of it--
New York, New York"
Frank Sinatra, that song

New York City; the cultural capital of the West. Mecca of Millions, who come here for the Brass Ring in their chosen field, and reinvent themselves into the top achievers the society, becoming one of its wonders. Or get chewed up and spat out, disillusioned with life. The verdict is still out on most of us. New York City. Its heaven. Its hell. I didn't have to save up for a bus ticket, or screw up my courage to the sticking point. I was born here...

"New York, New York
Its a wonderful town
The Bronx is up
And the Battery's down
The people ride in a hole in the ground
New York, New York
Its a wonderful town!"
--Leonard Bernstein, On The Town

New Yorkers are actually nice people. Its just that you can't take the time to say hello to everyone as you walk down the steet, like Crocodile Dundee, or you'll...

One day when I was a boy in summer day camp, a bunch of us kids were climbing on a playground replica of Noah's Ark. I used the hand and foot holds in the side to get up to the top. On deck above was a level space where we children could walk in and out of a little cabin, and give each other congratulatory greetings on having made the climb. Then one would pass over to the other side to climb down again.

The problem was, coming down was not as easy for me that day. Although it couldn't have been all that high, I remember being frozen in terror, clamped to the side of the 'ship.' looking Way Down to the ground. Three camp counselors--I thought of them as authority figures then, but they must have been maybe in their early twenties--were gathered below keeping an eye on us. When they saw me hesitating, thereby blocking any of the other kids from getting down too, they called out a few suggestions. The first ones were probably sound, caring, helpful ideas, as I was too high...

"Far into the north,
We're sallying forth!"
--Song of the North
Hollywood Musical Adventure
Classic Studio Era

In 1967, the French Club of Connetquot High School in Bohemia, NY in Suffolk County, Long Island launched its expedition to the largest, most breathtaking, spiritual, and fun system of self sustaining National Parks in America. Its loony! Its toony! I josh because otherwise--I'll start crying. Its called...Oh... CANADA. (Sob!) I love you, man!!!

In those days, I would have followed Miss Latour anywhere. 'Allons nous, mes etudiants!' Luckily for me, she led us to the Winter Carnival in Quebec, Quebec. (Pronounced Kaybeck, Kaybeck by many locals) Ice sculptures. Drunken men wearing kilts in the beautiful Chateau Frontenac Hotel. Best of all, a giant ice toboggan slide. Strategically, being a member of the Drama Club, which had many more girls then boys, I choose to ride the toboggan with three of them. A perfect group....