My car was in the shop recently, so I was driving a borrowed car for a few days. Normally, when I drive, I listen to CDs or my iPod. (Yes, I said iPod. The old school iPods are way better than smartphones as music players.) Since it was temporary, I decided not to load any…
Of all the threats that the information age has brought up, privacy has always seemed like the least big deal. I’m sure a lot of that is because I lead a boring life. People can spy on me all they want and they’re unlikely to uncover anything embarrassing. I mean, I do trip and fall…
I haven’t posted anything about politics since election day. So many people have been so happy with the results. People were literally dancing in the streets. I don’t want to mess with that. I want people to be happy, I really do. I just don’t get where that happiness is coming from. I know Biden…
We got a little over a foot of snow about a week ago. It felt like we got about a foot of rain yesterday. All the snow is gone except for the big piles in parking lots. It seems like that’s the way winter works now. We get some snow, but it doesn’t hang around…
My daughter asked me, “What’s your favorite part about Christmas?” I told her that my favorite part is watching her open her presents. She said, “Why do you like watching someone else have fun if you’re not having fun yourself?” I told her that it’s hard to explain, but that it’s part of being a…
I hate wrapping presents. It takes a shocking amount of effort to get them to not look like they were done by a five year old in a hurry. I used to work retail at a place that offered complimentary gift wrapping. I dreaded customers requesting it. I passed it off to my coworkers whenever…
I recently wrote a three part mini-series. Part one was on the self. Part two was on knowing other people. Part three was on Santa Claus. The connecting thread was the fact that these are three things that are experienced, but it is unclear (to say the least) in what sense they are real. I…
I was talking to my mom the other day. She was wondering about the song What Can You Get a Wookie For Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb). She was wondering who wrote it, if he ever wrote anything else, and what it must be like if that’s your biggest hit. I’ve had similar…
There’s very little in life as satisfying as getting someone the perfect gift. Just the idea that you can make another person that happy is great. It’s true for everyone, but I’ll bet parents know it better than most. It’s challenging getting the perfect gift. It’s even hard for Santa. But, when you can do…
This is a piece I’ve been wanting to write for ages. I’ve never really known how to do it, though. The dilemma is that I have to talk about what I don’t want people to talk about. There just isn’t any way to do that without talking about it. I feel like a hypocrite talking…
