Orel Family

I Played the Fool The first time I saw Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes , I hadn't yet seen my first Springsteen concert. It was May, 1980, I was a high school senior in New Jersey, and the Great Adventure Amusement Park had an event called "senior night" aimed at us on warm Friday evening. Mt. St. Helens had recently erupted , and as the volcanic ash drifted eastward we'd get glorious sunsets unlike anything we'd ever seen. After school that day we wedged many of us in to two small cars and headed down the New Jersey Turnpike to exit 7A, and eventually to the amphitheater, which was basically a round concrete slab with a stage on one side. Southside performed 3 shows that evening, though we went only to the first. The band featured the famed horns, as well as "The Girls," decked out in spandex suits. So I can say that I saw Patti Scialfa perform live before I saw Bruce Springsteen perform live. That first show, I couldn't even persuade...

The late, lamented Michigan Schedule 2 Over the weekend, I finally sat down with my documents and TurboTax, and settled in to my 2012 taxes. It's still a bit early for me, as I don't have all of my documents yet, but I wanted to get a sense of where I'd be this year. I finished the Federal taxes, leaving gaps for the unreceived documents. Then I got to Michigan. I completed the 1040 and Schedule 1, and went to fill out Schedule 2. That's my favorite. It's where the "Nonrefundable credits" are. For many years, Michigan has had a "different" tax system. Michigan didn't mimic Federal taxes for deductions, Michigan ignored most of those while giving direct credits for select favored items. The credit was 50% of a donation, up to a modest limit, for gifts to Michigan colleges or universities, Michigan public broadcasting stations, homeless shelters, and a few other select recipients. For 2011, my nonrefundable credits totalled $361. For 20...