The Hand We’re Dealt

You know what’s sad? It’s been so long since I’ve played Alien Hotshots that I can’t remember a thing about the card game. I can only tell you that 20 years ago it was part of my daily routine, and now I can’t remember a thing. I don’t, for instance, recall how the game arrived […]

Two-Car Garage

Ta-da! A two-car garage with — count ’em — two cars inside! Now, it’s not pretty and we’re still overstuffed, and I’m not altogether sure how Lynn reached her car door this morning, but as winter weather might be encroaching, two of three cars have a place to be safe from the elements. (The third […]

This Mortal Coil

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil . . . –Shakespeare, Hamlet Mel Torpey, now retired, used to be a P.E. teacher and a gymnastics coach. Gymnastics was not a sport I understood, particularly — […]

To Market, To Market

One of the books I’ve saved for absolutely no good reason at all is my 1979 Writer’s Market. All right, I’ve saved lots of books (lots and lots) for absolutely no good reason at all, but this is a badly out-dated reference book in an era that eschews reference books even if they’re current. […]

Bonfire of the Vanities

Dusty thought he was done with our house. Yesterday was going to be his last day, except for one replacement part. But no, ‘twas not to be. And can you guess the source of the problem? Why, my bathroom vanity, of course. The sub-contractor who caused him the most grief on our build, the concrete […]

On the ‘Post-Cusp’

Well, I missed it, so it might not be as significant as I thought: Nov. 11 was the anniversary of the day I posted my first blog entry. I launched the blog the day before, when WordPress thoughtfully provided my first entry for me (“The Journey Begins” with a picture selected from what I’m sure […]

A Cushy Life

I think Lynn was in the kitchen the other day when she confessed that she was not yet at complete ease in whatever room it was because she hasn’t yet established a routine. She still loves loves everything about her new house, but when pieces are still being inserted — no word on the bathroom […]

The Truth is Out There

Awhile back I posted a discussion/diatribe/soliloquy about an article I read on being a better listener. I found a great place to put this to the test, and I’m afraid I may have failed. I do think that a truism may have emerged: it’s very hard to be a great, or even good, listener when […]

Home Schooled

I learned something from my shower: yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the debut of Sesame Street on PBS. I’ll bet you don’t learn these kinds of things from your shower. My shower, which is special in every sense of the word, comes with an FM radio, and somewhere along the way recently I finally […]

To The Stars

I played hooky yesterday morning, watching a Star Trek movie on TV just like I had nothing else in the world going on. This may have been the first Saturday since we got serious about moving that I’ve done anything like that. I saw that Star Trek: Generations, which handed the movie franchise off from […]