In an Evernote notebook dated Jan. 14 lies a truncated mutant of a column which rants on about the feeble nature of winter to that point. “Hardly any snow!” the archaic column raves. “Why, it’s practically spring already!” The column was never finished and I think you know why. Winter came, winter saw — and […]
Street talk
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Valentine’s Day Survival Tips for the Romantically Stupid
It’s nearing the middle of frigid February yet the flop sweat of panic soaks your flesh. You’ve been dating a fine lass for six weeks now and, according to the rules of romance, you owe her a Valentine’s Day gift. And not just any Valentine’s gift; it has to be something that sets you apart […]
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Street Talk: A sneak peek inside my drawers
The excitement was unreal. When I was first hired by the Sun Journal back in the olden days of 1994, I went on an extravagant shopping spree. You know: high tech stuff. A Rolodex with colored tabs separating the letters for easy scrolling. A notebook divided into not two, not three, but FOUR sections, so […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: A Man’s Guide to Hobby Lobby
You didn’t have to look at the man very long to see that he was unhappy. He stood leaning against the bricks just outside the main doors, smoking angrily and shaking his head in disgust at regular intervals. Every time someone walked out of the store, he shot a baleful glance in that direction, hoping […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Hop on, I’ll race you to New Year’s Day
You know how I feel about you, right? We argue from time to time, and there are days when you just want to punch me in the snout and throw me into the Androscoggin — but you know I love you, right? Right? I do. And that’s why I’m hoping with all of my heart […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Celebrate Monday, Dec. 8. Hey, it’s something.
I have before me information of such import, I fear for my well-being. Men in mirrored sunglasses, at this very moment, are parked outside my house in dark vans, aiming delicate electronics in my direction in an attempt to discern how much I know. I know it all, ’70s-looking super spies. And it changes everything. […]
Posted inLetters
R. Poisson: ‘Street Talk’ column made sense
Send up the fireworks, Mark LaFlamme has finally made sense. I refer to his “Street Talk” column of July 24. Once in a great while, I read part of his tirades, but they usually don’t amount to much. Most times he just rambles on and on, not saying anything. That column, however, about people using […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: So, you want to be a job shadow
Here at the Sun Journal, we get requests all the time from people who are interested in following around a reporter on his or her daily rounds. Job shadow, we call the concept. It’s a term we made up ourselves and which you can never use without our permission. And don’t think we won’t notice […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: To give or not to give to the confidence man
It was the perfect panhandle. The man standing outside the grocery store, shivering in the cold, was neither too clean nor too grungy. He was polite but not gushing and his story walked that fine line between outlandish and plausible. “Hey, buddy,” he said, darting to and fro like an aquarium fish. “Can you help […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Live free or live in Connecticut
It’s said that when Nathan Hale was about to swing at the end of rope in the fall of 1776, he held his head up high and told the hangman: “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” Hale was from Connecticut. What do you suppose he would say […]