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…
I’m a reader. I don’t remember learning to read. My mom tells me I was two when I started. But I feel like I’ve always been reading. I’ll read pretty much anything someone puts in front of me. I take recommendations. I read fiction of almost any genre and nonfiction on almost any topic. My…
My car wouldn’t start this morning. Luckily, my parents live nearby, so my daughter was only about fifteen minutes late to school. Then, I called AAA and waited around for them to come. The guy arrived and it wasn’t the battery. I was hoping it was the battery. That’s a relatively cheap, easy fix. He…
When news broke that Major League Baseball has officially declared the Negro Leagues to be a part of Major League Baseball, I reflexively thought, “That’s good.” Inclusion is good and I support it. It didn’t take long for my initial reaction to change to confusion. The whole reason there were Negro Leagues is because of…
We Wish You a Merry Christmas has long been one of my favorite holiday songs. It’s just so much fun to sing. I remember as a kid in church singing it, and all the kids were really leaning into the “sh” in wish and “s” in Christmas, “We wisssshhhh you a merry Chrisssstmas!” We were…
