Posts by Benjamin
The Wild Rumpus
For me, Maurice Sendak’s “Where The Wild Things Are” is mixed up with the wild rumpus of my parent’s divorce. I don’t remember when Sendak’s creatures first appeared in my life; his fifteen-page book was always present. I do remember wandering the wide, book-strewn aisles of the Oak Park Mall’s Kracht & Brentano’s with my…
Read MoreChristmas Is The Time To Say I Love You
There’s barely a nip in the air, but once again, we’re getting the holidays started early. In two years, “A Holiday Benefit” and “A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II” have raised nearly $5000 for 826NYC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills. This year, veterans Chris Abad,…
Read MoreThe Gift
Two years ago today, Abbi and I received many thoughtful wedding gifts, not the least of which being the presence of so many family and friends who trekked all the way to South Carolina’s Low Country where Blackberry service is scarce, and the mosquitoes are as big as hummingbirds. Ours had been a fairly drama-free…
Read MoreActual Email, Vol. II
Last year, my department was slashed in half. We responded by setting a new strategy and impossibly steap but completely attainable goals. Keeping on target called for daily vigilance, and more than one speech invoking Presidents Obama and Kennedy (not all at once!), Bob Dylan, Bono and even Internet visionary Clay Shirky. We’d done a…
Read MoreGateways To Science
My writing and photography has garnered a fair dose of newspaper column inches, a few magazine and website articles and, well, more than 3000 of my own blog posts, but not much by way of good, old-fashion, hard-cover books. In 2004, my pal Ron Lieber hooked me up with some expat pals of his, Mike…
Read MoreU2 @ Giants Stadium: Vision Over Visibility
The lights began to dim. The stadium began to rumble. The band’s massive, claw-shaped 360° began to billow smoke. David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” counted down from the outsized speakers: “5… 4… 3… 2…” One by one, Larry, Adam, Edge and Bono took their positions, then launched headlong into a pulse-racing, soul-shaking block of stadium anthems:…
Read MoreThat Dust Cloud Disappears Without A Trace
Yesterday morning at 11:27 I Tweeted, “Noon meeting. Two o’clock flight. Nine o’clock U2 show. Bets, anyone?” At the time, I wouldn’t have wagered even a gentleman’s handshake; the communique derived from Overland Park, Kansas, some 1,201 miles west of Giant’s Stadium. Too many moving parts were in play, not the least of which an…
Read MoreThe Perfect Compliment
When I first moved to New York City, my bets were placed equally between writing for and being on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. The same could have been said of The New York Times, or MTV. Yeah, I probably should have checked the odds. But we’re talking 1995 here. I was 24-years-old. I…
Read MorePretty Good Shape (For The Shape I’m In)
The Abads are a force to be reckoned with. Example. Last Saturday night, The Abads celebrated Chris’ 31st birthday with a roucous night of Cranium (yes, the board game). I showed up from VMA rehearsals well after one o’clock. The shenanigans didn’t wrap until just before five. The next morning, Chris send an email to…
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