We’d been talking for some time about adopting new cats. The house has been cat-free for the last 20 months or so, and it seemed empty. We debated adopting a dog instead: T. and I both grew up with dogs and love them, but dogs are a lot more work, and neither of us were […]
Read MoreI’ve been attending conventions for some time now, and while they can be a tremendous amount of fun, they can also be tiring, and a huge drain on finances. I’d like to share some tips for how to stay sane, rested, and financially solvent during convention season. First and foremost: follow the 6/2/1 minimum rule: […]
Read MoreI was at the Henry Vilas Zoo recently, and before that the Indianapolis Zoo during GenCon weekend. I enjoy visiting zoos because I love animals — even reptiles, bugs, and fish. They don’t have to be cuddly for me to find them fascinating — though if they aren’t cuddly mammals, odds are good that I […]
Read MoreI fell in the shower last week Monday. More precisely, I fell out of the shower last week. On the way to the floor, I bounced off the toilet bowl using my mid-back as a springboard. I am of an age where falls in the home are starting to seem pretty scary. In truth, I’ve […]
Read MoreThere is a lot of talk of heroes these days. The thing about heroes is, it’s very easy to admire them for one aspect of their lives, and completely ignore other aspects that don’t fit the narrative we desire. My dad was a huge fan of Babe Ruth in his time. Living in small-town Wisconsin, […]
Read More*Warning: discussion of health issues and bodily fluids will ensue. You’ve been warned.* So I have a health issue known as Edema. My body swells up with excess fluid. I take a drug daily to help me pee out the excess liquid, but lately it’s not as effective as it once was. After I take […]
Read MoreSeveral months ago, I came across PBS’s “Great American Read” quiz, encouraging visitors to see how many of these “Great American Reads” they themselves had read. I have to admit I was puzzled by this list: it contained an awful lot of the dusty old classics of yore — things our English Lit. instructors insisted […]
Read MoreAs most of my readers know, I’m a freelance writer. Most of my work has been done in the tabletop gaming field, where I’ve written for companies from Games Workshop to Third Eye Games, and many in between. When writing for such a diverse selection of games, it’s important to be familiar with a lot […]
Read MoreWhile we prepare and ponder adopting some new furry friends of our own, we visited one of our favorite sanctuaries over the weekend. Valley of the Kings is a non-profit big-cat rescue located in southeastern Wisconsin, near the towns of Darien and Sharon, close to the Illinois border and only a short drive from Delavan […]
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