Author: Keith Howard
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A Phrase that Will Not Pass My Lips
I’ve got a dirty mouth. I don’t say this with pride exactly, but there’s no shadow of shame either. I wish I could plead an inability to prevent these words from coming out of my face, but I can and have controlled myself. My daughters were young when their mom and I split up, my…
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Doing Time in Waukesha–A Prisoners Story
I’m not a for-real criminal, but I’ve done time. Three bids in fact. If being in a cell can be called a bid and if a total of about five hours in jail cells can be called time. Let me explain. I’ve been locked up three times. In each case, I was guilty, and in…
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If You Don’t Want to Think, Don’t Read This
A few weeks ago, I was a guest on Peter Biello’s public radio show. In this space I talked about how Peter, instead of asking to recommend five books, had asked me for some examples of writing prompts. It turns out the prompts, more than anything I said, were of interest to some folks. Full…
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My Political Astrological Reading: An Ominous Force for the Environment!
It’s another eerily beautiful day here in the Great North Woods. Yesterday’s blog post—on my personal responsibility to leave others alone when it comes to their personal responsibility (or, more succinctly, the standing for the national anthem issue)—generated a lot of traffic to tinywhitebox.com (good) and a few fairly negative comments to my email (not…
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Biscuits from a Baked Brain
Last night: I’m sitting by a quiet riverlet. It’s 7:40 on a Sunday evening. September 24. Three days into fall and it’s dark outside. I’m in Pittsburg, NH, less than 10 miles from the Canadian border. And I’m wearing a freaking t-shirt! Today was 80 degrees!! I haven’t turned on the heater in the Tiny…
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A Patriotic Rant with a Twist: A Veteran’s View of the Anthem
I am an American who loves this country. I am a voter who participates in democracy. I am a patriot who served this country. I take my hat off when I enter a building. I stand when I hear our national anthem playing—oddly, I do the same when I hear the anthems of Canada, England…
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Reader Mailbag II–Rewriting and Adoption
Reader Mailbag II I am a horrible correspondent. It’s not that I don’t respond—eventually, I do, and I never know whether it will be with a brief squirt of syllables or a fire hose of verbiage. Here, I will try to briefly answer some questions that have been emailed me by readers (keithhoward@gmail.com). …
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A Shameless Plug for a Smartphone App (that might make my dream come true)
A press conference with the New Hampshire Attorney General. A participant named Howard. Cameras whirring and reporters attentive. I’ve pictured this scene many times, the only change being which crime I’m being charged with. Sometimes, I’ve kept my promise to every employer I’ve ever had: “Everyone’s got a price. Mine is $10,000,000. If I ever…
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“Now She Can Watch Me All the Time”–A eulogy (with jokes) for my mom
George Bernard Shaw said, “Life does not cease to be a comedy when somebody dies, any more than it ceases to be a tragedy when a baby is born.” This morning, we will explore both comedy and tragedy as we remember Bev Howard’s life. A Zen master once said, “Life is like climbing into a…
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The Bobbsey Twins and the Persistence of Memory
On my way from Manchester the Tiny White Box in Pittsburg, I took a detour through Lee and Durham, two towns where I lived for more than a third of my life. Since I was meeting my childhood best friend Jonas for lunch, and had an extra 15 minutes, I did something I’d never done…
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How Many Harmonicas are Enough for a Man Who Can’t Play Any?
When my daughters were little, we got a computer, a Compaq Presario that cost two grand. That was a lot of money for my wife at the time and me, but it was not too high a price to pay to make sure our kids weren’t left on the roadside of what was then called…
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Razors and Reciprocating Saws
Yesterday morning, I was in the shower at my daughters’ apartment, sort of/kind of using a razor to clean up the hair on my neck. (While in the Tiny White Box, I take showers two or three times a week—I believe I’ve complained about their inconvenience—so being able to get in a hot shower in…
Tiny White Box--Thoughts on Life, Death, Recovery, and Other Mundane Topics 