It Was a Dark, Stormy Night

Chatting with a friend about her difficulties with driving, it reminded of an unforgettable cyber pal years ago in Seattle who had experienced a major panic attack on the San Diego Freeway, so now she only drives surface streets.

She was funny, very… Read full post »

 12/22/2012 –Day One After the Pockylypse - Open Call

While I was waiting for the water to heat for coffee, I clicked on my laptop to see if the Internet was back up. Nope, still no connection. No signal available on the cell phone either. And the power was… Read full post »

Putting the Gulf Oil Spill in Perspective

While we’re all holding our breath to see if the latest fix worked, I thought I’d point out a couple of things that the media is not telling us in the midst of the frenzy.

To begin with, there’s… Read full post »

 A Literary Attack - The Dog-eared Case 

(Another thrilling Dick Dangerfield Mystery - a trilogy in one part)

It was a hot, humid, damp, sweaty miserable day when I got the call. I knocked over the bottle of Hoppes #9 Solvent I’d been using to clean my .45… Read full post »

 Fretwork Birdhouses and Burning Books

The house we lived in when I first started school was split in two. We had the downstairs, my parents and brother and me. Upstairs, the space under the gable roof was much smaller, and a single man lived there. He entered and left… Read full post »

 The Story of My Life – Time for a Rewrite?

It’s disorienting to find out that a personal story you hold dear to your heart actually happened some other way. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not so much, but it’s always at least a little disorienting.  What&rsqu… Read full post »

 When is the flying saucer coming back for me?

I was fully aware that I was different from other kids by the time I was six. I really wanted to play with them, but they were not nearly as enthusiastic about playing with me. For one thing, the games… Read full post »

 Fireworks!

It’s hard to ignore fireworks. I mean, why would you want to? I’ve always been entranced by the huge aerial flower gardens of flash and bang and streaming fire of all colors. As a Midwestern kid, the annual trek to a vast park, where 100,000 people gathered to… Read full post »

Online Dating – Part 6:  Staying Sane & Safe

I obviously wasn’t thinking too clearly about the depth of my experiences with online dating when I started writing this series. I thought it might be worth a post or two. But soon it became clear that 20 years of… Read full post »

 Online Dating – Part 5:  Social Media

I admit it, I’m a very tough match. I’m not an average guy on almost any axis or scale, with lots of complexities and contradictions, so it stands to reason that I’m not going to be attracted to, or attractive to, an… Read full post »

 Online Dating – Part 4: Matchmakers & Ads

After the better part of a year pursuing and meeting long distance dating prospects without success, I finally abandoned the practice, somewhat reluctantly. It seemed like it should work, and I was fully invested in the idea of a &ldq… Read full post »

Online Dating – Part 3

Once I had established a real relationship with a woman I met online I dropped out of dating mode, although I did continue to read and post and occasionally chat with other friends I had made there. For one thing, I was too busy… Read full post »

 Online Dating – Part 2

If you’ve read this far you may be wondering whether my first horrendous experience with online dating, and the first two rules I ran across in the process turned me off to the whole idea? No, after the shock wore off I went back… Read full post »

 Online Dating – Part 1

I was asked to expand on my earlier comments about online dating, and this is a subject I can write about from long experience. For one thing, I was a very early adopter. My first date after splitting up with my wife came about… Read full post »

I celebrated what is commonly thought of as a Very Significant Birthday (VSB) a few days ago. Now I can ride the bus for free, and I get $2 off at the IMAX Theater, so I guess that’s pretty significant. I don’t see a downside. Why do so many people… Read full post »

There was no Father’s Day card in my mailbox this year, again. No call, no email, no brunch, no gift, no remembrance of any kind. Not that I expected any of that, although I’ve never quite given up the slim hope that this year might inexplicably be different. I guess… Read full post »

If I don't get this straight I will just SCREAM! YAIYEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Goddam freakin' paperwork. I HATE THIS!!!

Hate it! Just can't... khhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

***

Commentary: I have been blessed with many talents. Doing paperwork is not among those talents. Checkbook registers baffle my attemp… Read full post »

I wasn’t at the party where they handed out Consistency. I’m not sure if I wasn’t invited or if I was just distracted and mislaid the invitation somewhere. In any case, I was probably out in a meadow chasing butterflies or something when everyone else got theirs. Not… Read full post »

I’ve always taken a lot of pictures when I attend big group gatherings, like the 47^th annual celebration of Eeyore’s Birthday the other day in Austin’s Pease Park. It’s a throwback to the Be-Ins of the 70’s, a non-ironic remembrance of the Hip/… Read full post »

Having a garden is like signing up for a "gift of the day" club. There's always something new to invoke curiosity and wonder. 

Of course, not all the surprises are equally fun. I remember the first time I grew strawberries, when I was living on Whidbey Island, and I was introduced… Read full post »

“I’m so glad I met you. I really (fill in the blank) you”

“Yes, and I really (fill in the blank) you too.”

“We’re so lucky we share our (fill in the blank).”

“Yes, our (fill in the blank) is so awesome”

“I want our (fill… Read full post »

Before you break those locks, consider:

They might be there to protect something priceless, yes. But on which side is the prize, and on which side is the thief?

Choose wisely. Those locks are there for a reason. 

And once they're broken, there's no turning back.

***… Read full post »

Is this a jingle, or is this a bell?

“Hey, is this a jingle, or is this a bell?”

“I’d call it a jingle.”

“That’s what I thought. But there’s no price tag and I can’t find it in the register.”

“Well, try ‘bell' then… Read full post »

I’ve always been drawn to light, fascinated by light, enthralled by light. I like to play with light. I became a photographer to try to capture the dances of light I found most interesting. And as I began my spiritual journey, I discovered… Read full post »