Author Archive

I See a Darkness

Written by Jim Knipfel on April 16, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

It was simple enough to explain. There were too many things piling up around me–taxes, doctors and the like–and there wasn’t a goddamn thing I could do about any of them. Just let time pass, just let the people I was counting on and waiting for send me the paperwork, or make a decision or
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Working Myself Into a Lather

Written by Jim Knipfel on April 9, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

My sister Mary is five years older than I am. She’s married and has two daughters. They all live in a nice split-level in Green Bay, about a mile down the road from my parents. Mary’s a teacher. Has been for going on some 20 years now. In fact, she teaches at one of my
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Mexican Beer and the NSIBM

Written by Jim Knipfel on April 2, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

We were sitting at the bar in a Mexican joint. One of your less popular Roger Miller songs was playing on the jukebox. We’d been in there before, but never just to go to the bar. That afternoon, though, we’d been wandering around Lower Manhattan, and it seemed the nearest place. We’d had a few
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Taking It on the Lump

Written by Jim Knipfel on March 26, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

It wasn’t all that late on Saturday night, but I was on the trail end of a cold, I was tired and my head hurt. Sitting at the kitchen table in the darkness, I lit the evening’s final cigarette and inhaled. As I sat there, cross-legged and barefoot on the kitchen chair, my hand drifted
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The Story of Bucket Head

Written by Jim Knipfel on March 19, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

Finding out his real name would’ve been easy enough. After all, he was in the office every few weeks, filling out "Roommate Wanted" ad forms. But none of us, it seemed, ever really cared to know his name. To us, he was simply Bucket Head. n Some people called him Bucket Man instead. He went
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The Gangs of Park Slope

Written by Jim Knipfel on March 19, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

It’s a standard part of most any neighborhood newspaper. Along with announcements about the flower show this weekend and minutes from the last town board meeting, you’re bound to find the local crime blotter. Problem is, few local papers give the crime blotter the attention it deserves, and as a result, it’s rarely as good
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Pointy Birds

Written by Jim Knipfel on March 12, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

The house in which I spent much of my youth (ages nine-17) had a big picture window in the living room that looked out on our front lawn, a tree, a sidewalk and a reasonably busy suburban street. I spent an awful lot of time sitting in front of that window, watching. The neighborhood was
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Techno-Paranoia

Written by Jim Knipfel on March 12, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

"Within a single generation," writes David Ritchie, "paranoia has become as American as baseball and Mom’s apple pie." That made itself more than evident in the hours and days that followed the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Even before the government and the media had announced their own conclusions–that it was
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Home Invasion

Written by Jim Knipfel on March 5, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

Home Invasion At first I assumed it was a combination of obvious external sources–a dread overcast day, a lack of sleep, some recurring digestive problems and a double-whammy of bad news on the professional front. Add to that a mountain of chores, both large and small, which needed to be taken care of in the
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Wackyland Is Where You Find It

Written by Jim Knipfel on February 26, 2002. Posted in Miscellaneous, Posts

Let me tell you about my desk chair, the one I have at home. n It’s your basic, 80s-style desk chair, black, mildly padded, screwed into position atop a four-wheeled pedestal. It has no arms, which is good. I don’t work well in a chair with arms, given the way I sit. n I’ve had
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