For the past dozen years, the amount of the Trujillo family’s televiewing has dropped considerably. Whereas late last century we watched and at least kept track of dozens of programs — mostly half-hour sitcoms — today we watch things like Masterpiece Theater, a smattering of PBS offerings on Sunday, Keeping Up Appearances, 60 Minutes, and not much else.

The “not much else” doesn’t include occasional pro football games, especially when the Oakland Raiders are on, which is almost never. And I enjoy basketball playoffs, the World Series and the Super Bowl.

But in keeping with an effort to stay informed, we vow to watch a few of the new programs. Two Broke Girls comes to mind. Now even though astute readers will probably claim that TBG has been on the air for years, to us it’s a new offering. It’s about . . . well . . . two broke girls. It has a laugh track and a sophomoric plot. Remember, “sophomore,” from the Greek, combines “sophos” and “moros,” meaning wise and foolish, thus a wise moron. Continue reading →

Think of the many meanings of single words. One that comes to mind readily is “run,” which has a multitude of meanings.

“Run” can be a verb or a noun. As a verb, it can mean move quickly (as in run home), to travel (as in run a bus route), to flow (as in water or blood), to complete, as to run for office.

And as a noun, “run” can mean a difficulty at a bank, a baseball score, a snag in a nylon, a continued performance, as a run on Broadway, or a continuous spell, as in a run of bad luck, and dozens of other meanings.

I’ve been aware of the multiplicity of definitions for certain words, but had not really thought of one I’ve heard most of my life: “orale,” given the three-syllable Spanish pronunciation of “o-da-leh”, but not the anglicized sound of “oh-rail.” I must have heard it first when I was an Optic seller at age 11. I’d sold a 5-cent paper to a man leaving a downtown cantina, but all he had was a dime and I didn’t have any change. He turned down my suggestion that he buy two of that day’s papers for the dime. Continue reading →

Martha Johnsen sounded puzzled; her boss at KFUN radio, Joseph Baca, seemed perturbed; Las Vegas Ron Wooten-Green expressed it well. The three were quite vocal regarding our town’s being ignored in a publication of wide circulation.

So what’s the issue? The matter is that the Summer Guide, bundled with Sunday’s Albuquerque Journal, acted as if Las Vegas doesn’t even exist, despite two half-page ads touting the Meadow City. Does paid advertising guarantee some kind of mention in the Journal’s 64-page booklet?

Here’s the sequence:

Wooten-Green notified KFUN and others about the Journal’s egregious omission of our town. Martha Johnsen, the early-morning radio announcer, appeared to wonder why we were omitted. Soon, Baca devoted several minutes of air time attempting to contact the Summer Guide staff for an explanation of the omission. Meanwhile, others on Wooten-Green’s email list must have become involved. Continue reading →

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit,
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
—Omar Khayyam

Of all the words I’ve read during my 76 years on Earth, I find it difficult to imagine a bit of verse more profound. And as a writer, I’m obviously aware of how difficult it is — as the rhyme by the Persian poet indicates — to unsay it.

A handful of emails I’ve received — I’m sure many others in my Facebook circle also received them — have made me almost antagonistic toward the ease with which people can say things they later regret, or even worse, say and write things because of the cloak of anonymity.

Let me explain: Continue reading →