Bob, a crusty but erudite old liberal, lives along the Mexican border with his soul mate, Josefina Bernstein, PhD and his long-term guest they’ve aptly named Boner. Boner is a somewhat unique young man. He grins constantly, he only speaks Swahili and he has this curse or blessing, depending on how you look at it,…

<p Deming Writing Group Assignment Prompt: You come across a pack of matches that sets off a series of uncanny events. Start your story with “My mother always told me not to play with fire.” End it with “And that’s how I ended up in the middle of nowhere — naked.” My mother always told…

    Don’t you hate it when you can’t get the price tag off of your new purchase? Does the inconsiderate jerk that’s too lazy to return his shopping cart or do the scum-bags who toss trash out of his car windows piss you off? How about the smokers who think the world is their…

  A Collection of Short Stories Bob demonstrates his storytelling skills in this collection of sixteen of his best short stories. Bob set his story Three for Dinner in Boston, where he lived for many years, because he couldn’t find a five-star French restaurant within hundreds miles of the Chihuahuan desert where he now lives,…

The NFL football season kicks off in a few minutes and I can hardly wait. “Why is that?” you ask. “Aren’t they just a bunch of grossly oversized young men on steroids pushing each other around and knocking each other over in tight pants in front of thousands of screaming spectators? Is it their tight…

Deming Writing Group Assignment Write about something that has disappeared in your life that you miss October 17, 1963 Another spectacular sunset paints the sky in warm pastels as the sun plays peek-a-boo through a stately row of quaking eucalyptus trees. These haunting giants dwarf the groves of orange trees they protect from the winter…

At recent meeting of a mixed bag of 30 people or so the woman in charge thought we should all introduce ourselves as a way of breaking the ice and getting the meeting started. One at a time the attendees stood recited their names and gave a brief bio. The morning was full of, “Hello…

Once in a while we experience an extraordinary event which seems to etch a permanent spot in our memory and become an integral part of who we are. These are the speed bumps along the road of life that add a bit of excitement, and often terror, to our otherwise hum-drum lives. Here are a…

“Dear God thank you for taking the time to hear me today. I know I don’t speak to you as often as I should … but I try … and you know all of the stuff I’ve got going on.” “First, I want thank your for my health. As you know I’ll turn 70 in…

“Ah … excuse me sir, I … ah … don’t mean to pry but is that a World Series championship ring on your hand?” inquired the passenger sitting to my right in the over-crowded coach section of a United flight to Philadelphia. I put down the L.A. Times sports section and turned as best I…