Posts by Benjamin
Top Ten Stories Of 2008
What with getting engaged, then promoted, and then married — not to mention honeymooning on the other side of the world and releasing a few albums — it didn’t seem possible that this year could possibly top 2007. And nothing will ever top that happy day last October. Still, 2008 gave it the old college…
Read MoreBray’s Island, South Carolina (Winter 2008)
Top Ten Songs Of 2008
I’ve said it before: music discovery is a young man’s game. Try as I may, I can’t keep up with what’s new. Even with my day job. It all sounds like a rehash of The Strokes to me. I spend all my time listening to This American Life, Fresh Air, and On The Media anyway.…
Read MoreTop Ten Posts Of 2008
I published 205 posts this year. Assuming an average count of 500 words, that’s over 100,000. Compiled onto 12-point, 60-character, 5-inch lined, 250-word pages, 2008 would be a 400 long. With an average readership of a few hundred friends, family and fans a week and nearly no revenue (not counting a few hundred bucks of…
Read MoreRookie Mistake
I was never much with a shotgun growing up. Not that I had a ton of exposure to firearms, but they were around. My father’s family, most of whom still live in Waterloo, Iowa, frequently spent weekends hunting pheasant, duck, rabbit and deer. Invariably, they’d let me tag along on a hunt, even if I…
Read MoreLow Country Christmas
Cashmere and wool were the first casualties of our arrival in Charleston. The air was warm and wet. The sky wide and blue. Even with the wreaths that adorn the white picket gates of Bray’s Island, I wasn’t sure it was Christmas. My memories of the season are whited-out and frozen-over, not laid low with…
Read More“A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II” Raises $3000 For Youth Literacy
This morning, I sent a check to 826NYC on behalf of all the artists and fans behind “A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II.” Together, we increased last year’s contribution by a third by raising $3000 to support students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and help teachers inspire their students to write. Thanks…
Read MoreNight Revolves On Invisible Wheels
Katie met Fabrizio as a child when she traveled to her father’s hometown in the Italian Alps. Thirty years later, Katie and Fabrizio reconnected at a relative’s wedding. Six weeks later, Katie and Fabrizio stood in a snow-swept cove of Central Park exchanging vows. Abbi and I stood in the wings, huddled together against the…
Read MoreAnd The Winner Is…
A week ago, I attempted to move a few extra copies of “A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II” with a raffle. Every purchase automatically entered the buyer to win a copy of the charity CD signed by each of the eleven artists, plus signed copies of their respective CDs. So tonight, I wrote everyone’s name on…
Read MoreShe’s My Niece
My college band, Smokey Junglefrog, released its third and final album, “She’s My Niece,” concurrent to our disbanding on May 15, 1993. The title of the album was borrowed from a birthday card my bassist, Paul Perreault, had given me. The front of the card was a mixtape with a collection on niece-oriented songs: She’s…
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