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REG-GIE! REG-GIE! REG-GIE!

James Stephens

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A seminal moment in my life occurred when I was about six years old. As we were walking back to our vehicle in the stifling summer heat after attending a Yankees game in the Bronx, a ...

National Past-Time

James Stephens

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Let’s just get this out of the way first: Rob Manfred is a weasel. In case you don’t know, Manfred is the commissioner of Major League Baseball, and, while you would think a love or even ...

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Are You Ready For Some Football?

James Stephens

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I recently did a track workout at a local park in my city of Newark, NJ. My running partner and I chose Weequahic Park instead of the one in our neighborhood because the slightly farther away ...

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And to think that I saw it on FOX News!

James Stephens

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The phone call came into the library early Saturday morning. The man on the other end was clearly agitated. “Do you guys have any Doctor Zeus books there at the library?” “Yes, we do,” I said. ...

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Why you shouldn’t hate Tom Brady

James Stephens

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Sunday’s Super Bowl will mark the tenth time Tom Brady has played in American football’s biggest game. I understand that people are tired of hearing about Tom Brady. For 20 years now, his name has been ...

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My first reading glasses

James Stephens

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Just after the New Year, I picked up my first pair of reading glasses at the Family Dollar around the block from my house. It wasn’t part of a New Year’s resolution; in fact, it was ...

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Mask down, fists up: a day at work in the library

James Stephens

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Like most workers, I don’t wake up in the morning thinking I’m going to get swung at while at my job. I’m a librarian, not a professional boxer or an MMA fighter. But on a Monday ...

Running Toward the New World

James Stephens

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I am a runner. I am not fast. I don’t compete save for a few odd races here and there, and I’m not really competing in those except against myself. I’m not much for group runs ...

In the Streets of Philadelphia

James Stephens

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A lot can happen in a week. On Saturday, May 30, a beautiful sunny afternoon, we joined thousands of others at the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum to protest the murder of George Floyd by ...

Crisis on top of crisis in Kensington

James Stephens

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During this COVID-19 crisis, probably many of us have had moments where we have thought, “Oh, shit, what’s going to happen when coronavirus spreads to (fill in the blank)? We have worried about those who fill ...