In the comments section of a blog I follow: Me: I hate Bono, he's just like Sting. Blogger: The only thing I know about Sting is that he can have sex for hours without having an orgasm. Me: Why would you want to do that? I'd get bored.
Stop or I’ll shoot!
This morning’s headline: Police and protesters clash in St. Louis after former officer who shot black driver acquitted on murder charges. That’s a long headline! I’m getting a bit old. Edging past middle-aged. Long in the tooth. Over the hills. I grew up in a different world. A world before internet, video games and cable … Continue reading Stop or I’ll shoot!
Cool S#!t
I have two children. Sophie, 15, is likes to draw. She sings along with the radio. She goes for miles-long bike rides around the Gettysburg battlefield. This year, she joined the tennis team at school. Eli, 12, likes to watch cool shit on YouTube. OK, that does Eli a disservice. Not only does he like … Continue reading Cool S#!t
Something’s up
People change. Overtime, over the years, personalities morph. They bend, adjust, reboot. Introverts become extroverted. The immature find maturity. The hopeful become bitter. The shy become bold. Introverted by nature, I like to be alone. My hobbies, distance running and reading, are solitary activities. Time spent quietly in my own head. Only myself as company. … Continue reading Something’s up
“Susan”
Quinn calls her fiancé “Scrubs.” Marie Christine calls her husband “Not Tom Brady.” The Boeskool calls his wife “my wife.” A runner/blogger I sometimes read named Sam calls his wife “Mrs. Sam.” In my blog, I call my wife “Susan,” which may or may not be her real name. My favorite author is the wildly … Continue reading “Susan”
The cost of blogging
Acer 14" Chromebook, 32GB Flash Memory: $299.00 WordPress Premium upgrade with custom URL: $99.00 100 Vistaprint business cards to publicize book and blog: $16.00 One comment informing me that a post I wrote helped a reader gain understanding and relief from their own personal problems: Priceless via Daily Prompt: Priceless
Messy
My public self: confident, controlled, together. And then I blog: vulnerable, messy, confused. Tourette Syndrome. The tics I suppress with medications, mostly: Thigh-punching. Eye-rolling. Body-scratching. Tooth-scraping. Grunting. Pay attention, you see them, hear them. I lack repose. Always moving, twitching. My brain in motion, fueled by anxiety. By obsession. By worry. Those conditions that accompany … Continue reading Messy
Mortality
“Stop fighting us Mr. Cann, we’re doing all we can to keep you alive.” I don’t remember this admonishment—I’d just barreled head first into a minivan on my bicycle—a hospital resident told me the story after I stabilized. But this head injury isn’t what sent me to critical care, it was the internal bleeding. The … Continue reading Mortality
Lather
Throwback Thursday: my first blog post, ever. September 30, 2013. Lather was thirty years old today. They took away all of his toys. His mother sent newspaper clippings to him, about his old friends who’d stopped being boys. How appropriate that this Jefferson Airplane lyric has been stuck in my head for the past few … Continue reading Lather
The Man in the Woods
There isn’t a sign. No balloons on a mailbox. No bright marker to let you know you’ve arrived. There’s no handicapped parking. No health department permit, no indication that you’ve even paid sales tax. Nestled on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains, in the midst of the apple orchards and packing plants where much of … Continue reading The Man in the Woods
Cry
A couple of days ago, I picked up a follower with a clever name. Alliterative, self-deprecating, suggesting an outsider’s perspective on the world. Her picture looked like the sort of person I’d relate to. Yes, this is a lot to pick up from a username and avatar. So, I checked out her blog. I’m not … Continue reading Cry
Angry, Old and Middle-Class
AwkWARD
I was awarded this week. Twice! I’m sure you know about these awards. They are the blogging version of a chain letter. You get nominated by a blogger, you give a shout-out to said blogger, you answer a few questions, and you then nominate sixty-seven others for the same award. And if you do the … Continue reading AwkWARD
BT
Brian Transeau grew up next door to me. Who’s Brian Transeau? Right. I wouldn’t know that either if he didn’t live next door. From his Wikipedia page: Better known by his stage name BT, Transeau is an American music producer, composer, technologist, audio technician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He was a pioneer in the formation … Continue reading BT
Shaving Cream
Forty-year-old song lyrics I can recite from memory: I have a sad story to tell you, It may hurt your feelings a bit Last night when I walked into my bathroom I stepped in a big pile of Shhhh-aving cream, be nice and clean, Shave every day and you'll always look keen! If you remember the … Continue reading Shaving Cream
A most unusual resignation letter
Today I quit my job. Well, I haven’t told anyone yet, so: Today I decided to quit my job. And it isn’t my real job, not the one that supports my family. It’s my hobby-job. My fun job. My job as a spin instructor. The joy is gone. Tonight was the second week in a … Continue reading A most unusual resignation letter
Kid Food
Jiffy Pop, Jiffy Pop the magic treat — as much fun to make as it is to eat. I’ve known this jingle my entire life. Jiffy Pop was invented in 1959, three years before I was born. As a kid, I loved to make my own food. It was a rush that I could make … Continue reading Kid Food
Careen
Six-year-old me at the top of a hill. Straddling my bike, everything normal except the absence of a chain. “This will be great,” they said. “Without breaks, you’ll go faster.” 1969, a blue Schwinn with a white seat, a twenty-inch job. Still too big for teeny, tiny me. The ubiquitous stingray design that dominated the … Continue reading Careen
The Shimmering Image
I’ve taken two writing courses in my life. One class—Creative Nonfiction, I enrolled in it as I first embarked on my writing hobby—was phenomenal. Useful, educational, fun. I walked away with a two-thousand-word essay that makes me proud to this very day. The second class, taken on the heels of the first, gave me nothing. … Continue reading The Shimmering Image
Casual
Casual. What a prompt. I could write a book. Attire has been front and center in my thoughts for three weeks. That’s when I started a new job. In fact, I’ve already written about this. Maybe I should just re-post my recent essay Adult. For twenty years, my life has been a study in clothes. Comfortable … Continue reading Casual
