A little while ago, I was watching a Baltimore Orioles game with my mom. The camera cut to a picture of the flags waving in the breeze. The Maryland state flag was among them, and before I knew it, I was asking, “How on Earth did Maryland wind up with such an ugly flag?” “It’s…
I’m an optimistic person. I’m not unrealistic, but my natural assumption is that things will work out OK in the end. I don’t deny the bad things that happen, I just feel like we’ll be able to work through or past them. It works for me. It keeps me hopeful and looking forward. It extends…
Here we are again, about a week from a big election. So, here I am again, encouraging everyone who might read this to vote. It’s taking more effort than usual to write this little plea. I’m seeing a lot of pieces out there lately that are rationalizing people’s decision to forgo voting. They range from…
It’s October, and that means it’s time for the baseball playoffs. It’s the best time of year. While I follow baseball all season long, I understand that some people only tune in for the postseason. So, I figured I’d write up a quick and dirty rooting guide for those just tuning in. The World Series…
It’s October, and that means it’s time for the baseball playoffs. It’s the best time of year. While I follow baseball all season long, I understand that some people only tune in for the postseason. So, I figured I’d write up a quick and dirty rooting guide for those just tuning in. The National League…
It’s October, and that means it’s time for the baseball playoffs. It’s the best time of year. While I follow baseball all season long, I understand that some people only tune in for the postseason. So, I figured I’d write up a quick and dirty rooting guide for those just tuning in. One wildcard game…
It’s October, and that means it’s time for the baseball playoffs. It’s the best time of year. While I follow baseball all season long, I understand that some people only tune in for the postseason. So, I figured I’d write up a quick and dirty rooting guide for those just tuning in. The National League…
I get Labor Day off every year. I have for the past thirteen Labor Days. I always feel a little uncomfortable having Labor Day off. There has only been a roughly nine month period of my life where I could reasonably describe myself as labor. And it wasn’t exactly hard labor. I was an hourly…
My daughter started second grade today. The past two years, I have marked the first day of school with a blog post. I’m doing it again today, which, I think, makes it a tradition. The first first day of school, I wasn’t feeling very good about it, even though my daughter was excited. The second…
Aretha Franklin was amazing. I’m not going to try to describe her voice, I’m not that good a writer. I’ll just say it was magical, miraculous even. Her death, even though it wasn’t surprising, shook me. I found myself distracted and frequently looking on social media to see all the tributes that were posted. I’ve…
