My wife Susan does this thing (or really should I say she doesn’t do it). She doesn’t gossip. She doesn’t suppose, she doesn’t rumor, she doesn’t compare. She only talks about others when it’s necessary to talk about others. When this first started, maybe twelve years ago, it was disconcerting. Suddenly we weren’t talking to … Continue reading Wise Speech
God’s Light
Maine, It’s not just vacation-land, it’s an acid trip. That’s the caption I wanted to write on Taylor’s Facebook page when she posted this crazy photo. Around the time she snapped this picture (using her iPhone 6, not the high-end digital SLR camera she always seems to have strapped around her neck), I experienced similar … Continue reading God’s Light
Monday Morning Massacre – a run report
Monday Morning Madness? Monday Morning Mayhem? Monday Morning My-Oh-My? I can’t decide on a name. It bothers me that it’s no longer Monday. Last night I fired up my laptop to put the finishing touches on this post, and Windows informed me that it was in the process of updating my operating system. Three hours … Continue reading Monday Morning Massacre – a run report
Kathleen Hale is a Crazy Stalker
I’m on a nonfiction kick. Two books in a row, for me that’s a kick. I probably read one nonfiction book about every eighteen months, so this kick of mine is notable. One weekend a few months ago, two books caught my attention: The Rise of the Ultra Runners by Adharanand Finn and Kathleen Hale … Continue reading Kathleen Hale is a Crazy Stalker
What I sent
Yesterday, I applied for a grant. I think bloggers should get paid… something. It’s a hobby, yes, but it’s also a job. People rely on us for reading material. A few of the bloggers I follow have set up Patreon accounts. This is a blog-specific eCommerce interface, they call it croudfunding, where followers can make … Continue reading What I sent
I hereby order…
I hereby order: The elimination of fossil fuel use by 2020 Universal access to quality healthcare An end to hunger and malnutrition Respect for all people regardless of religion, race, nationality, heritage, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability and intelligence. The increasingly erratic behavior from Donald Trump has played out over the past week in one … Continue reading I hereby order…
Dilemma
Humid as a swamp, the temperature rising, like a steam room coming to life. Yesterday was similar, hard to breathe, the edge of hot, but that was mid-afternoon in the heat of the day. This morning, we’re just getting started. “Can we turn off the AC for a few days? I’d rather be hot than … Continue reading Dilemma
(Don’t) Sharrow the Road
The quality is horrendous, for that I apologize. This picture lived a tough life. It’s a photo of a photo in a photocopied copy of a city planning pamphlet. I planned on writing this post weeks ago, but I never went out to take the necessary picture. I could have found a picture on the … Continue reading (Don’t) Sharrow the Road
When Rights are Wrong
I hate guns. All guns. Carried by anyone. Cops, trained citizens, soldiers, immature jerks who feel powerful with a pistol on their hip. Anyone. My reasons are simple: if a gun isn’t present, no one get’s shot. I don’t care about the second amendment; it was written in a different time, for a different group … Continue reading When Rights are Wrong
Like?
When you read a blog post do you hit Like? I do, almost every time. If I make it to the end, and I wasn’t offended—no sexism, or racism, or intolerance—I click the Like button. I see it as a marker, a tag. Like I’m a graffiti artist with a can of spray paint; I’ve … Continue reading Like?
(Angry) Thoughts and (Hopeful) Prayers
Don’t politicize the tragedy they say, or at least they’ve said that in the past. Now isn’t the time to debate gun control. This is a time for thoughts and prayers. In El Paso, Texas a shooter (how in God’s name did this ever become a word) shot forty-six people in a Walmart. Where I … Continue reading (Angry) Thoughts and (Hopeful) Prayers
My Hungover Weekend
Once upon a time, I spent my weekends sick. Sick during the days, but not at night. The nights I spent drunk. My mornings started early. Saturday and Sunday, eight o’clock, nine o’clock. Maybe not early by today’s standards—I’m up at five each day during the week—but eight A.M. is early when you get to … Continue reading My Hungover Weekend
Hobbies
My car is parked sidelong on a hill. The driver-side wheels cling to the edge of the asphalt, barely touching the roadway. The passenger-side, eighteen-inches lower, sits on the lip of a steep, grassy embankment. As I pulled off the road, I felt a vague fear that the car might flip. I sit now at … Continue reading Hobbies
Different Lives
This short story originally appeared in the Bangalore Review. Chris My alarm shrieks. It’s 6:57. Out of bed and into yesterday’s clothes. Dizzy from alcohol and insufficient sleep, I step into the morning under-dressed. My coat lies on the couch, the December freeze ignored in my haste. I race the clock to move my car. … Continue reading Different Lives
Are they dead to me now?
Can you separate the asshole from the art? Last weekend, I went for a drive. Sophie, a rising high school senior, is giving college a try. With one hundred fifty other kids, she’s spending a week on a college campus studying Environmental Science. It’s the whole deal: dorms, dining halls, lectures and lots of field … Continue reading Are they dead to me now?
Read Less, Know Less
I was a newshound. Everyone was. As a young adult living in Washington, DC, news was hard to avoid. This was the early nineties, the rise of Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich. Articles about politics were hot. I lived on Capitol Hill. That’s what they call the neighborhood that extends east of the Washington Capitol, … Continue reading Read Less, Know Less
Breaking out beyond my blog
Months ago, I wrote a blog post called Blogging, Disabilities and Other Stuff. After I hit publish, I realized that The Other Stuff is the tile of my blog. Possibly, and unintentionally, I may have defined the other stuff. In this post, the only other stuff besides blogging and disabilities is my insecurity over whether … Continue reading Breaking out beyond my blog
Ubers and Scooters
“Can someone else sit up front?” This was me talking after my third Uber ride. There are loads of ways for tourists to traverse Paris. Autobus, Taxi, Batobus, Metro, marcher péniblement, and of course, Uber. We’ve utilized several of these, but when we have some distance to cover in a hurry, our go-to is … Continue reading Ubers and Scooters
TBI
Back when I was a kid… Head injury was a normal part of being a boy. Bike helmets hadn’t been invented yet, football helmets were still made of leather, and we threw bricks at each other for fun. OK, none of that’s true, bike helmets existed, but I know I never saw one until I … Continue reading TBI
Bees
It’s a riot of flowers. Fourteen years ago, with our house freshly purchased, we tore out the front garden. A massive juniper cluster, appearing like one bush—three feet high and twelve feet wide—hunkered against our front porch. The giant splotch, one color—pale green—didn’t match our vision, our esthetic. We wanted to make a statement. Not … Continue reading Bees
