Traditions That Shape Graduation Ceremonies

by Kevin Burton    Wanted to give a shoutout to all the 2023 high school and college graduates, but without reflecting, depressingly, on how long it has been since I became a new grad myself.    So I decided to talk tradition, rituals, why we do what we do at graduation ceremonies.    A lot …

Happy Birthday Dear Kansas, And Many More

by Kevin Burton    Today is Kansas Day kids, so just for today, the rules will be a little different.    Most notably, do not even talk to me about The Wizard of Oz today.  I’m not going to have it. I am a mild-mannered sort, but I will fight you today if you start …

Up All Night And Original Thinking

by Kevin Burton    I’m sitting in the dark, on the couch my mom gave us. I hear the sound of a train in the distance.    There is romance, poetry in the sound.    I’m in the Man Cave and it couldn’t be mancavier. Two smallish beacons of light accompany the night without interrupting …

A Magic Carpet Ride To New Orleans

by Kevin Burton    While at the Quiet Knight bar in Chicago, Steve Goodman saw fellow singer/songwriter Arlo Guthrie, and asked to be allowed to play a song for him, according to a story on Wikipedia.    “Guthrie grudgingly agreed, on the condition that if Goodman bought him a beer, Guthrie would listen to him play …