Left to my own devices

"It's been so long Doing all I can do To get back to you California Blue"    -- California Blue , by Roy Orbison I've only ever flown on an airplane for one occasion in my life. This fact has actually startled people, and I can maybe understand why. We live in a fast-paced, global society. Air travel is commonplace. I, however, have always been deathly afraid of it. "But you're more likely to die in automobile than in an airplane," people always say. True, the statistics bear this out. But, once I'm crammed into that cylinder, along with who knows how many other people, high up in the sky, and something goes down, then the chances aren't good. My claustrophobia doesn't help matters, either. March of 1991, however, saw the necessity for air travel for yours truly. I was 15, and my mom's hometown friend, Mary (and her husband, Emory) were living in Fresno, California. Mom wanted to visit them. I liked Mary & Emory though, if we're ...

Yesterday, during a back & forth professional e-mail chain, a business partner wrote: "Congratulations to your daughter on her acceptance to the university!" I stopped for a moment, taken aback at the obviously incorrect statement. Yours truly has never been in a position to father a child, dear reader, and so the laudation was, alas, misdirected. A couple of e-mails later, and all was sorted out. The person had meant to send the remarks to someone else. No harm, no foul. Afterward, I had turned the exchange into a minor story of mirth, regaling a couple of co-workers about it, and even posting it online to social media. Chuckle chuckle, there's no way Matt could have a daughter out there -- or could he? Ha ha, but no. Admittedly, I had a few seconds of slight panic at the thought of an offspring I was unaware of. The alarm was uncalled for, of course, which at the moment made it even more amusing. And then, as the day wore on, a rather surprising sen...

Today is the birthday anniversary of Frederick Martin MacMurray, better know as Fred MacMurray, the Golden Age of Hollywood actor, with films such as The Caine Mutiny , Double Indemnity ,  The Apartment and  The Egg and I lining his resume. MacMurray is, I think it's fair to say, a bit of an underrated actor. He starred mostly in comedies and, while certainly a leading man, his dramatic chops were rarely utilized outside of his collaborations with director Billy Wilder. For the most part, folks today who remember him do so mainly from his 12-year-stint as Steve Douglas on the venerable sitcom My Three Sons . That's how I was introduced to this great actor.