One year ago today I posted the first “Why It Matters” pieces. It was the opening volley in an effort to overcome a creative block rooted in anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, […]
Happy Birthday to “Why It Matters”
53. Try To Use A Mirror, No Bullet Or Knife
Despite its sprawl Boiling Springs High School was an oversized shotgun shack. An uninterrupted hallway ran like an artery from front to back door, the lettered A-B-C-D wings spreading out to either […]
Anomie Belle Live, Chocolate Shakes, and Change
“Hey, you got a haircut.” I’ve known Ryan since his hair was black and his biggest concern was finals. Now his Pierce Brosnan ‘do is cropped short and peppered with the gray […]
52. Devil’s In the House of the Rising Sundae
Highway 11 was the back fence of my small world, the northernmost boundary of my known universe. It wasn’t much to look at — a black two-laner bordered by peach orchards, pine […]
51. I Hate the Teachers and the Principal, Don’t Wanna Be Taught to be No Fool
Boiling Springs High School was the newest, cleanest building in town. The sun and rain had yet to dull the red brick; the huge expanse of lawn leading up to Old Furnace Road […]
The Cutout Bin Revisited
Are you still awake? Sweet Dio’s crucifix, I started rambling about junior high school nine months ago and you have sat there the whole time, patiently staring at my record collection while I […]
50. The Punk and the Godfather (Why It Matters Revisited)
This is the big number fifty in my ongoing narrative, not including the many sidebars and asides. This seems like a good of a time as any for a sanity check. I […]
49. This Is A Public Service Announcement (With Guitars)
“I’m not driving to Colorado every time your grandfather decides he’s dying,” my father muttered. He jammed the last of the luggage into the back of the station wagon. “He rotted his […]
48. Once We Had An Easy Ride and Always Get the Same
My goal as a kid was to get my hands on as much music as possible. I recorded The King Biscuit Flower Hour whenever I found it on the FM dial. When […]
47. Rising Up To the Challenge Of Our Rivals
“Stop it!! Mama, make him stop it.” We were puttering down I-26 in Mrs. Ellison’s Datsun, my newly found second family and me. I didn’t quite understand why Matt’s mother let me […]
Why It Matters 