Archive for September, 2008
Infinite Sadness
“Sonic Boom” is a column about music, or better yet, a conversation about music, and like any conversation worth having, it occasionally veers off topic. So I’ll ask you to forgive me this week for spending my time here discussing something other than music, but something I need to discuss just the same: the death of David Foster Wallace, one of the greatest writers I have ever read.
They Don’t Call It Mecca For Nothing
It is an awesome sight. Standing on the rocks under the Montauk Lighthouse, the Atlantic Ocean seems bigger than it does from any other vantage point along the South Shore of LI. You just know that you are standing at the very end of America, with your toes curled over the diving board.
Sunday Disease
Some habits are hard to break. Try as you might, you just can’t make a change when it is necessary. Among the many habits of mine that could use some, um, tweaking, one is the unbreakable habit that on Sundays, I have to be home. It has cost me many laughs, I’m sure, and certainly caused me anxiety as I tried with all my might to make sure I was in the nest.
“Save My Kid”
In Edward Whelan’s Lindenhurst yard, he hands me a small plastic packet of heroin. His smile, which I’ve written about before—the one that lights up the room—is tinged with doubt. It’s a nice almost-fall day and the sun has already forgotten how to scorch, but Edward, who has been shooting heroin again after stopping for several months, is sweating slightly.
Sonic Boom: Showoff
I’ve mentioned this before, both here and elsewhere, but I’ll say it again: I came of age in an era where your CD collection defined you.
Give Them A Break…Release With Care
I enjoy a good battle with any game fish-who doesn’t? Plying one’s skills against the quarry’s need to escape tests even the most experienced angler. But it’s not as easy as just tossing a fish back after a catch. You have to release a fish properly if it’s going to survive. September’s water is the warmest of the year, so how you fight and release fish is even more important.
