Depression has made me nostalgic, and not in a good way. As far as I can remember, I’m not normally the nostalgic type. The past is the past. Some of it was fun, some of it wasn’t. Either way, I don’t dwell on it. Or I didn’t dwell on it. Lately, I spend an awful…
The first time I saw B.B. King perform live was 1992 or 1993. I’m pretty sure it was my senior year of high school, but I don’t remember which side. Before I went, a guy that I worked with told me that seeing B.B. is, “like going to church.” I didn’t really understand what he…
I have a Christmas tradition that I would like to share. Every year, for the past twenty or so years, I have read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I always read it over five nights, one stave per night, so I finish the book on Christmas Eve. I don’t know exactly why I started…
There are certain basic life skills everyone should have. It’s one of the major failures of our educational system that many people lack them. What’s worse is that most people are never offered the opportunity to learn these skills in school. This list is far from complete, but it’s a start. 1. Sewing – I’m…
Climate activists are always talking about renewable sources of energy. Why is that? The danger isn’t running out of fuel. Fossil fuels can last a long, long time. The danger is putting carbon (and other greenhouse gasses) in the air. Are people that afraid of nuclear energy? Should they be?
I had my annual physical yesterday. That’s not normally a huge deal. I mean, I get a little freaked out every year, but that’s only because I’m utterly terrified of all things medical. I’m told I suffer from Vasovagal Syncope, which is, “Fainting resulting from certain stressful triggers which lead to sudden drop in blood…
I was talking to my brother the other night. He was telling me about a podcast he had listened to where the woman who talks about music always makes the same complaint when she doesn’t like something. She says it’s too simple. Ironically, she loves Bruce Springsteen, and it doesn’t get much simpler than Springsteen’s…
The political left has an anti problem. They are anti lots and lots of things: antifascism, antiracism, anticapitalism, antiwar, anticorruption, and on and on and on. All those antis are fine (although some are more fine than others), but I think they form a large part of the left’s branding problem. The right is anti…
If you follow baseball, you know what happened, but just in case, here’s a quick recap. During Saturday night’s game between the Mets and Dodgers, Chase Utley was the runner at first when there was a ground ball up the middle. If the Mets turned a double play, the Dodgers were out of the inning,…
We had to get through eleven chapters and almost two-hundred pages, but we finally get to meet the dragon, Smaug. It’s totally worth the wait. There is a lot to this chapter, pompous dwarves, brave hobbits, treasure, tunnels and a bird, but really it all comes down to the dragon. The chapter opens with the…
