We continue bringing much needed fairy tales to our all-to-real world with this duo from The Brothers Grimm. Written in the early 1800s and first published in 1812, each of these short tales tell how our behavior creates consequences.  These tales also remind us of the supernatural, the creatures of legend, elves, fairies, angels, witches, heavenly intervention. And these tales remind us how far out-of-touch our modern world is from imagination, Mother Nature. What is a constant between these tales and today is the breadth of human behavior- from the most noble to the most horrific, from selflessness to sheer selfishness! Enjoy, and may my gentle readings bring you a few moments of the world as seen by The Brothers Grimm. Thanks for listening!

We continue bringing much needed fairy tales to our all-to-real world with this duo from The Brothers Grimm. Written in the early 1800s and first published in 1812, each of these short tales tell how our behavior creates consequences.  These tales also remind us of the supernatural, the creatures of legend, elves, fairies, angels, witches, heavenly intervention. And these tales remind us how far out-of-touch our modern world is from imagination, Mother Nature. What is a constant between these tales and today is the breadth of human behavior- from the most noble to the most horrific, from selflessness to sheer selfishness! Enjoy, and may my gentle readings bring you a few moments of the world as seen by The Brothers Grimm. Thanks for listening!

We continue bringing much needed fairy tales to our all-to-real world with this duo from The Brothers Grimm. Written in the early 1800s and first published in 1812, each of these short tales tell how our behavior creates consequences.  These tales also remind us of the supernatural, the creatures of legend, elves, fairies, angels, witches, heavenly intervention. And these tales remind us how far out-of-touch our modern world is from imagination, Mother Nature. What is a constant between these tales and today is the breadth of human behavior- from the most noble to the most horrific, from selflessness to sheer selfishness! Enjoy, and may my gentle readings bring you a few moments of the world as seen by The Brothers Grimm. Thanks for listening!

We continue bringing much needed fairy tales to our all-too-real world with this trio from The Brothers Grimm. Written in the early 1800s and first published in 1812, these short tales each tell how our behavior creates consequences, up or down.    Today, I read for you The Wolf and the Seven Kids, The Nightingale and the Blindworm and The Stolen Pennies.    Enjoy and share and thanks for listening.  More from The Brothers Grimm next time!

The world needs some fairy tales these days, folks. So here I go- at least a Baker’s Dozen tales from The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of The Brothers Grimm.    This is the tale of Good Bowling & Card Playing.

The world needs some fairy tales these days, folks. So here I go- at least a Baker’s Dozen tales from The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of The Brothers Grimm.    This is the tale of The Virgin Mary’s Child.

The world needs some fairy tales these days, folks. So here I go- at least a Baker’s Dozen tales from The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of The Brothers Grimm.    This is the tale of The Companionship of the Cat and Mouse.

The world needs some fairy tales these days, folks. So here I go- at least a Baker’s Dozen tales from The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of The Brothers Grimm.    This is the tale of The Frog King or Iron Henry.

Pete Hamill was a NYC-based columnist and novelist.  This reading is from his larger work ”A Drinking Life” and is all about the ancient and street-sacred game of stickball, an urban urchin variant of baseball played barehanded on the side streets of Brooklyn to this very day, using sawed off broom and shovel handles as bats and a bouncy pink rubber ball called affectionately ”a spaldeen”.    I hope you enjoy this throwback reading and my after-comments! Thanks!  Next episode will drop on Friday this week (9/12/25)

It’s Sunday 9/7/2025 and while summer is winding down, the stores are already hawking Halloween ”stuff” so that took me to rediscover, and now read to you all, the 1903 Guy DeMaupassant short story ”Was It a Dream?”. My end remarks tell what I think the moral/meaning of this wonderfully powerful very short story has for us....... Thanks and more to come- next episode will be a baseball reading since we here in the USofA are transitioning from the baseball end season and championship run to the great game of American football.

Tues 9/2/25- Let’s go back to June 1968- NYC Brooklyn movie theatre- my high school graduation ceremony and let’s see what happens when ancient tradition meets late 1960s rebellion and social renewal!    Enjoy and thanks for letting me enjoy my 5-week August sabbatical- much needed and much renewal!    More to come- back to two episodes a week- usually Mon/Fri.... Appreciate you all!!!!

Hello out there in NeoSeniors Services Nation and, if you have enjoyed our podcasts before, welcome back …to those of you just discovering NeoSeniors podcasts, welcome aboard. This is our newest addition to the podcast series titled “The Joys of Growing Old”.  And today, I am focusing on the the 2nd of my Six Joys of Growing Old.  At some point, you may want to go back and listen to the earlier podcasts in this series/collection. And I think you will begin to sense that while I call these joys “mine”, they are yours too! For sure! The next podcast after this one in our Joys of Growing Old series will focus on the 3rd of my 6 Joys of Growing Old….”We Are More Contented”. I promise to be more consistent in my podcast publishing......it's a long story... If you do find a new good insight into your Emotional Mindfulness from this podcast, feel free to subscribe and like us and make comments either at this podcast site or via email to NeoSnation@agedandwise.com .  So, here we go…..  Joy of Growing Old #2: We Handle Our Relationships Better". PS: May be experimenting with a metronome on this one...If so, if you hear a metronomic sound, please let me know if you like it...am open to sound scaping a bit and your ideas for sure.....!   Thanks!                   And enjoy.....

1833: CF Martin Guitar Company began in Nazareth PA. 1934-35: Porgy and Bess written by George and Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward 1950: Your presenter born 2025: Artificial intelligence evolves Herein is an 8-minute episode wrapped in the confluence of American guitar making, American music, American struggles, your presenter and AI.......Let’s see what happens! Thanks for listening, subscribing, liking, following, commenting or generally enjoying these Confessions of a Mid-Centurian. Next episode will drop Friday July 25!

Long time MLB umpire Dave Phillips and outstanding baseball author Rob Rains collaborated on a collection of baseball stories and historic anecdotes titled ”Centerfield on Fire” for Triumph Books. Today, I read the story ”Crazy Nights at the Ballpark” which is a true tale of the intersections of Disco, Beer, Weed, Baseball and marketing gone rogue! Hope you enjoy it and thanks for liking, subscribing, commenting, sharing or otherwise engaging with Confessions of a Mid-Centurian”. Next episode will drop Monday July 21 and is entitled ”Summertime, Gershwin and AI”!

So, let me tell you about the television shows I enjoyed in my early days. Let’s say from when I was around 5 years old to 8 years old, smack dab in the mid to late 1950s.  How many do you remember?   What other shows formed your early TV experiences? Love to hear from y’all. Maybe I’ve mentioned a show or two you will discover together and maybe, just maybe, you can turn me on to a vintage show that I can enjoy today!    Thanks!    Next episode will drop Friday July 18th!

Do I believe in miracles? One word answer is a resounding “YES!!”. All of us are both blessed and blighted in this life- me included. In an age dominated by data, algorithms, and empirical validation, belief in miracles is often regarded as quaint—an emotional remnant from a time when humanity lacked the tools to understand the natural world. Screw that line of thinking! Come and listen to my reasoning!     Agree? Disagree? Comments welcome! Thanks!!!!

Today, we get into our Wayback Machine to Neu Ulm Germany late 1980s and I relate the true story of The Scariest Conversation I Ever Had. This is a cautionary tale that asks us to somehow break the historical chains of prejudice, otherism, hatred, racism, abuse of power and get our humanity optimized, not our barbarism! Can we do it? Heck, my money is always on our better angels to prevail.  Don’t prove me wrong! Thanks for listening, subscribing, liking, commenting, sharing this episode.  Next episode will drop Friday 7/11/25.

Just as the US was on the brink of its Civil War, the poet Walt Whitman wrote his short poem ”I Hear America Singing”.  Some say he wrote it on the 3rd of July 1860 as he listened to the streets and open windows of his neighborhood in my hometown of Brooklyn NY.  He was 39 years old, unemployed and living in a basement apartment with his mother and two sisters when he wrote this poem. He also spent some time that summer in Boston working on the first edition of ”Leaves of Grass”- an iconic collection of his poetry.    Walt worked on ”Leaves of Grass” right up to his ”Deathbed Edition” which was the version of Leaves that he wanted to be his legacy.   Yes, Mr. Whitman, by the end of his life in 1892, he was sure of his talents.  May we all be so insightful, eh? Anyhow, this is a powerful tribute to human work, done with high intent and purpose as the connective tissue of the great social-economic compact that we all participate in, however varied nation by nation it might be. Thanks and next episode will drop on Monday 7/7/25........Maybe we’ll go to Germany for that one.....

One of my promises to my listeners is to bring them thoughts from minds greater than my own.  That said, today it is the mind of Tom Waits.    If you’ve never listened to his music- you are missing out on a talented unorthodox songwriter/singer/and more.    Today, I read/perform the lyrics to Mr. Waits song ”Step Right Up”.  Step Right Up” is a song written by Tom Waits and included on his 1976 album Small Change.  The song is from the point of view of a snake oil-like salesman asking potential customers to ”step right up” and purchase an unnamed miracle product.  Waits guarantees that the product will ”mow your lawn”, play a ”rhythm master”, ”deliver pizza”, and locate lost slippers, among other miscellaneous things. Waits sings the song in the style of a carnival barker attempting to entice business. Waits wrote the song as a satire of products that claimed to do more than they advertised.  For live performances of the song, Waits would use a cash register for the percussion! Thanks for listening, liking, subscribing, sharing, commenting, etc.!  Next episode of ”Confessions of a Mid-Centurian” will drop Friday July 4th!

It has been said that history goes in a straight line and human beings run in a circle.    Seems there has always been a war happening, a war ending, a war rumored, a war wanted, a war feared, a war won, a war lost. Well, let’s go back to autumn 1969 and see what happened to me then. Thanks for liking, subscribing, following, commenting, sharing, etc.  Means a lot! Next episode of Confessions of a Mid-Centurian will drop on Monday, June 30, 2025.  Wow- where did June go?