Recently, I switched the appearance of my blog to better accommodate people who visit to read using their phones. Much to my surprise, I lost most of the photographs in posts because of this change-over; suddenly, ALL my posts are solid blocs of plain text. For a technophobe like me, this is a major headache.…
With the recent reveal that Facebook user data was compiled in such a way to sway voters in the United States, many have called for a boycott — or outright abandonment — of Facebook as a social media platform. I completely understand these concerns, but I’d like to share a bit of wisdom I heard…
In a shocking departure from tradition, a discussion broke out recently on Facebook. I started the ball rolling by asking if anyone else was tired of seeing Marvel’s superheroes fighting each other rather than the bad guys. I was amazed at the passion from the other side of the debate — people who enjoyed seeing…
I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship lately, and what it means to me. I’ve had people declare that we are friends after we’ve just met, and that strikes me as odd; to me, a little bit more needs to go into the relationship to truly declare someone your friend. Growing up, there were only…
Our first stop of the next day — Christmas Eve Day — was the Audubon Aquarium. It was a delight. Featuring both fresh and salt-water fish, their displays and habitats featured good visibility for viewing. We had lunch in the Aquarium cafeteria, which was situated to provide diners a fantastic view of the Mississippi River…
My wife Tracy and I decided to take a Christmas trip this year. She was jealous of my previous visit to New Orleans for the Grand Masquerade in 2016, as New Orleans is someplace she’s always wanted to visit. Visiting during Mardi Gras is right out, as neither of us do well in crowds of…
After last week’s events, the post I was going to put up will wait for another week or two. I was going to write about an experience going target shooting with a friend of mine, but right now I can’t stomach even seeming to sympathize — in ANY way — with the psychotic horror show…
There are TONS of actors working in Hollywood. Most go unknown, with credits like “Waiter #3” or “Woman Reading Newspaper.” Forgettable roles to be sure, but background actors and those who play bit parts are really important to making films more realistic and more enjoyable. Being a character actor like this isn’t easy, and it’s…
There’s been some discussion in recent years about safe spaces. Women-only, People Of Color-only spaces that allow those folks to get away for a few minutes or an hour, to decompress and refresh. Arguments have been made for years that these spaces are unnecessary: that they are a drain on resources, and create an exclusionary…
I found a violin today. In my daily walk around the neighborhood in search of wild Pokemon, I happened upon a violin case, sitting on a capped vent near my house. The case was pretty ordinary, and a cursory inspection revealed that there was, in fact, a violin inside. There was no one in sight.…