Category: Musings

Thoughts on writing and other things by Buzz Anderson

Let’s make a deal!

My brother and I had a TV in our room, going back as far as 1960, when I was six years old. We thought it was cool to get up at 5:30 AM and flip on the tube……

Switcheroos: How to make an interesting speech

Recently, I switched Rotary clubs, joining the Santa Cruz chapter. My friend and neighbor, Dave Smith, also wanted to join the Santa Cruz group, so we signed up together. As rookies, we were informed that we would have to give Red Badge speeches about ourselves. To spice things up, we decided to do our talks about each other.…

How life informs our political perspective

My brother Bill wrote a political memoir. It’s well-researched and well-argued. While I may not agree with everything in it, much of what he writes hits home.…

When Art is more than Art

I love political cartoons. They make me laugh more than the funnies—even the ones that I wholeheartedly disagree with can induce a big chuckle. And I am so gladdened by the fact that our society provides such freedom of speech and the press that conflicting views can be equally represented, and criticisms—especially of our government leaders—can be printed without prosecution. This is not the case for most of the world’s population.…

Long, long ago and far away…another place, a different time

Jennie and I just got back from a four-day visit with friends in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We stayed in the Las Campañas area, home of one of the three couples that made up our traveling group. It was a beautiful place on the high mesa, populated by piñon pines and surrounded by the Jémez and Sangre de Cristo mountain ranges. The sunsets were otherworldly, intensified by thunderheads and the occasional lightning strikes. The day temperatures fluctuated from the mid-seventies to the high eighties—perfect weather for the seven-thousand-foot elevation.…