A Doe I Know (DIK — let’s call her Dee) and I, the Authorial Rabbit, have watched three older movies in our self-isolation that in their different tones offer artful, affecting and intelligent views on the passage of time, that new pandemic fascination. The first was Academy Award Best Picture The Grand Budapest Hotel, released in … More Die Welt von Gestern

My friend M. A. Titmarsh just read the Atlantic article by executive editor Adrienne LaFrance: The Prophecies of Q, and his head was exploding. Quietly exploding, in isolation in his own home. He did not want to talk, not just yet. For my part, the AR, I have been enjoying again Bill Bryson’s A Short … More Time

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness . . .” Allen Ginsberg, course. In a renovated auto-repair garage in San Francisco on Oct. 7, 1955, 22-year-old poet Michael McClure read from his own work, after which another poet, Ginsberg, took the stage. He read Howl and made history. McClure died at age 87 on … More The Best Minds of My Generation

“I am large, I contain multitudes’,” says Titmarsh on the latest Zoom call. He is not wearing his mask. He is alone. He is not small. “You’re going to say you knew Whitman, time-traveler, channeller that you are. Or that you were Whitman.” “No, and not Bob Dylan either — new album coming out — … More Johannes de Silentio

No one, unless he is making a mistake, thinks the Authorial Rabbit never makes mistakes. He does, even more than his friend M. A. Titmarsh. No coy wagging of a bunny ears and tail can disguise a blunder forever. In his expansive leisure time, the AR has been listening and reading on the subject of … More Incompetence

Friend Titmarsh and the AR go back years — in some respects centuries. Friendship like ours is a great gift. Working to be a good friend is a spiritual journey of a lifetime. In a time of normal mobility, maintaining friendships is a challenge. In a time of lock-down, new challenges emerge, and new appreciations. … More Friendship

“Do you ride the wave?” asked Titmarsh of the Authorial Rabbit in a FaceTime conversation yesterday. Titmarsh was wearing his mask. “Why are you wearing a mask?” asked AR. “It’s becoming like a comfortable sock,” answered Titmarsh. “A security blanket. Besides, I’m getting into eye contact at the grocery store. Once the mouth is removed … More Freedom

When the Authorial Rabbit was a kit, he took piano lessons. He did quite well, despite a contrary nature (his own) and dogs barking, snarling and snapping at his paws and tail when he traveled to his weekly lesson and back. His teacher was firm but kind. Throughout his early teenage years he persevered, despite … More Boredom

The Authorial Rabbit wept at news of the death of John Prine. AR is not alone in mourning his loss, one of our era’s greatest songwriters. His poignant art described our beleaguered and imperfect humanity with deep insight and compassion. He was a gentle, loving man of enormous talent and resolve. Perhaps one of his … More John Prine

Friend Titmarsh, self-isolating, buys his own groceries. He described his system to the Authorial Rabbit: “I wear a mask in the grocery store. I go early, during the time for my age group.” M. A. Titmarsh is not young. Some would say he is timeless. “When Trump said he wouldn’t wear a mask, I put … More Covered in the blood of Jesus