Thirty
I will write thirty poems to April. They will be brief, like the recipe for ice. They will paint themselves into corners. They will be elaborate houses built on sand. They will come pouring out like …
How I Spent My Blog Vacation
I try to write this blog out of habit. It’s the only way things get done from me on a regular basis. My habits are easily thrown off when my life pivots in a new direction. All this change has …
Me + the Internet = 20 Years
The Internet and I celebrated our 20th anniversary together last November. We didn’t do much—didn’t even exchange special packets. I’ve been thinking about it, though. Back then, the …
Giving Away My Brain
Synaptic Gasp by Flynn-Burhoe I don’t remember now where I learned of the Harvard Brain Bank, but several weeks ago I made a note for myself to look into donating my brain after death for …
My Summer Checklist
I measure my life in how many summers I’ve lived. This was a very good summer, filled with simple pleasures. It got me thinking about a checklist of things I enjoy about summer. climbing on top …
“He Must Be a Liberal"
I’m so fighting mad right now I was in a bar, talking to friends. Some guy comes in and passes around some cutesy, printed out e-mail about how no one who has Irish ancestry should vote for …
The Emotional Mass of Items
So many of the tens of thousands of items in my life have emotional connections to them. I think of this just two days after leaving my late wife’s car at an auto dealership, having traded it in for a …
minority status
Humans dislike minority status. You can define minority in any way: race, religion, gender, status, etc. This is why I don’t want to travel, this fear of being a minority. It is also why I live …
It's Not God, It's Schadenfreude
This happens all too easily. First, a big natural disaster comes along and kills dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people. Then some far-removed knucklehead says into a microphone that, essentially, …
On Your Birthday, Dad
My father would have turned 72 today. While going through his and my mother’s papers a few weeks ago, I found this birthday card given to him by his father. Fifteen dollars sat inside with the …