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The Last Place on Earth in downtown Duluth, Minnesota, is aptly named: It’s the last place on earth that you should patronize. Every business day, when the owner isn’t under arrest or behind bars, people line up inside…

Have you every noticed what happens to a house when it is neglected? The exterior paint peels. Weeds take over the lawn. Potholes appear in the driveway. Dust and dirt begin to cover everything inside. Cobwebs form in the corners. The walls crack.

Larry will never forget the first time he saw hardcore pornography. It was the early 1970s and he was about 10 years old. In his schoolyard at recess, he saw a few kids his own age, huddled around a somewhat older boy.

Fred will never forget the first time he picked up a handgun. The weight of the steel. The cool precision of the parts. The click of the hammer. It gave him a feeling of power and control.

I met Laura at a Best Western in Duluth, Minnesota, where she worked. At first, she was particularly nice and friendly. Then we talked about the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Gerry used to be an adherent of the Baha’i faith. He later renounced that religion and now claims to have “no religion.” Like most people in our culture today, Gerry takes a dim view of organized religion in general. He claims to be open-minded and strictly rational in forming his opinions.

On Holy Saturday, I bought a niche in a mausoleum for my wife and I. This was something I had planned to do for a while. My wife did not want to discuss it, nor did my father in law. Most people do not want to think about death.

When I was a boy, I remember my father pruning a grape vine. It was a very young plant and it seemed to me that he pruned it excessively.