At the end of 2025, Elliot’s parents gave me many of his remaining papers. I went through them all, appreciating his childhood art and his college essays. I found some old friends in there, plays that Elliot had written including some that were produced. Over a few months, I pull seven of his plays together…
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Elliot and I toured Italy in the early spring of 1991. As planned, we went down the Amalfi Coast (stunning) and then on to visit his great uncle's family. The hotel we stayed at before we got to his relatives was kind enough to help facilitate a call to those relatives to coordinate. Elliot and…
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On December 20th, Elliot was delusional, falling out of bed, and not himself. Anne correctly admitted him to Casey House, where he was administered pain medication and sedation. She called me, Jacob Davenport, that morning to tell me that he might just have hours left, so I rushed over. Over the next four days, his…
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My apologies for the lengthy lacuna between posts. These past few weeks have been fairly rough, and the combination of physical distress + lack of energy and motivation makes for poor blogging incentive. Let's see if I can catch up a bit.
View Got Them Old Backside-Barin’, Summertime-Shiverin’ Hospital Gown Blues Again »
Since turning 21, I generally haven't paid much attention to birthdays. My attitude has basically been "every day is one day older".
That changes with a cancer diagnosis.
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When family gathers, I am reminded of so many Ponce-clan get-togethers making up the decades of my youth (1944–1965). One such annual family event was the nighttime smelt fishing at Half Moon Bay.
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Two weeks of external radiation down, one to go. So far, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The radiation treatment itself has been relatively smooth. But it may have exacerbated my ongoing stomachache. This abdominal distress started right after I got the stent in mid-March, and at the time the docs said some discomfort was…
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There’s a perfectly good school in Russia’s capital for English-speaking children of diplomats: The Anglo-American School of Moscow. And it’s probably the right establishment for most Foreign Service (FS) families, who move from post to post every few years. We were not FS. My dad was a professor of Russian history before he joined the…
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I've been solving crosswords for, oh, decades now. I even have a vivid memory of my parents bringing home the inaugural issue of Games magazine back in the fall of 1977. So I've gotten pretty good at both American and English (or "cryptic") crosswords. But I've never competed in a crossword tournament… until last weekend….
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Two days ago, the Plate List Tour was scheduled to visit Rasika, DC’s temple of fine Indian cuisine. Did we partake of pleasing portions of paneer? Taste tangy tidbits of tandoor? Nibble on nourishing nuggets of naan? We did not. I ate a simple dinner at home that night. And it was delicious. Two weeks…
View Strictures on Eating »