Patrick J. Sauer Online

Finally, R. Kelly and I have something else in common.

Although, I don't just believe I can fly. I have proof.

While working on the piece in the May/June Success about business owners who fly their own planes, I was asked an intriguing question from a representative of Project Pilot, the mentoring program of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).

“Would you like to take a test flight?”

There is a great photo journal from editor/photographer/backseat co-pilot David Napuk  of our flyboy adventures. 

Off we go into the wild blue yonder...

Here's a story from all those who love (or hate) a parade.

Please read before the turkey-induced coma sets in. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  

(A note of gratitude to Mr. Beller's Neighborhood for posting this yarn.)

To paraphrase Ice Cube, today isn't a good day. I have a head cold, it's 40-degrees outside, the Philadelphia Eagles  no longer win football games and this unpleasant hometown story/picture was above the fold on the front page of the New York Times. 

Time to make with the funny.

Here is this tale of meeting Norman Mailer -- one of my idols -- and how it wasn't exactly what I expected.

It's the second in the "Brushes With Fame" series that I've posted at Smith, a nifty digital magazine devoted to first-person stories. The first was my encounter assisting Vice President Dick Cheney at a sporting goods store. 

"Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day," Norman Mailer.

You're damn right, Norm. This one's for you.  

First, a few bits of housekeeping: if you are new to the Red-State Rhumba, you can retrace our Southern steps in parts one, two and three. 

For those of you intrigued by all things Big Easy: here is an interview with Tom Piazza, author of Why New Orleans Matters and a piece I wrote about Richard Zuschlag, a CEO whose ambulance company saved thousands while FEMA kept doing a heckuva job. I would also recommend Rob Walker's, Letters From New Orleans, a great read that served as inspiration for my own small contribution to the gumbo.

And...if you no likey the ready, my wife Kim put together a short film of post-Katrina photography.

High-level academic research has shown that people only care about historical events on the same date that such events took place, so I bought myself some time by waiting until the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina to wrap-up the Southern diary. Actually, It’s taken me a few months to write about New Orleans for a couple of reasons. In part, it’s because I was working on a piece for Inc. and wanted to keep my interests from conflicting, but mainly it’s because I don’t know what to say.

So I’ll let Bruce Springsteen do my talking for me.…“I saw things that I never thought I’d see in an American city,”

Amen.