Archive for August 2014
Dungeons & Dragons brought me back to writing and saved my career.
The New York Times reports that Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Diaz is a former Dungeons & Dragons player. So too was Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire. Many more. The league of ex-gamer writers also includes the “weird fiction” author China Miéville (“The City & the City”); Brent Hartinger (author of “Geography…
Read MoreMy first date advice: Tell stories.
TIME’s Eric Barker reported on what science says are most appropriate and beneficial topics of discussion on a first date. My first date with my wife wasn’t a declared date. It was dinner at Chili’s before we attended a talent show at the school where we both worked. It would be months before we would…
Read MoreOur daughter told us to shut up, and she was right.
Driving home from the pool club, Elysha and I were debating the proper age to allow a child to play in a pool without supervision. With multiple lifeguards on duty, I had no problem allowing our five year-old daughter to play in the three-foot section of the pool without my watchful eyes glued to her.…
Read MoreProductivity tip #10: Get out of bed.
I’m not saying to sleep less, though I think that a lot of people could stand to get out of bed a little earlier. No, this is much simpler. Once you are awake, get out of bed. My alarm goes off, and within seconds, I am out of my bed and starting my day. Would…
Read MoreOur children, circa 1840
Somehow, some way, my wife turned back the clock about 180 years and took our children to the park to sketch the flowers, the same way children spent time before there was television and video games and electricity and plastic. And our children complied. They sat and sketched. My daughter came home and reported that…
Read MoreMegan Washington’s stutter is just perfect
I’m not sure why this effected me so much. Maybe it’s because I also spend a lot of time onstage, taking to strangers, and can’t believe Megan Washington’s courage. Maybe it’s her honestly. The grace and humor that she exudes. Her unwillingness to accept our sympathy. It’s a beautiful talk, and it’s a beautiful song.…
Read MoreMy mother looks unbelievably young, and I look even more poorly dressed than usual.
Another photograph of my mother that I’d never seen before has surfaced. Mom has been gone for seven years now, but these photos, sent by various members of my family, are like unexpected, all too brief visits from her. Wonderful and heartbreaking. This is a version of my mother that I don’t remember at all.…
Read MoreUnfair assumption #19: The desire for a specific postage stamp is a clear indication of the need for a life.
People who request specific stamps from post office tellers for reasons other than wedding invitations and the like (and even that is a little ridiculous) have far too much time on their hands and need to immediately begin volunteering in a homeless shelter. Honestly, I don’t know how postal tellers don’t mock these people and…
Read MorePossible future artist (and something else, I hope)
My son has recently shown a love for coloring, painting, and the like. I would love to see him take up a career in art. He just needs to have a backup career, in the event things don’t work out immediately. The expression “starving artist” exists for a reason.
Read MoreStupid super dads suck
Three of my friends built tree houses for their children. One (and maybe two) are minor death traps, but still. These men designed and built things with wood and nails. I can’t tell you how impossible that sounds to me. My daughter wants a tree house. Knowing that I have twice asked a friend to…
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