Archive for August 2020

Good news! Two weeks ago, I shot a 45 on the back 9 at Rockledge Country Club, producing my best round ever. Naturally, it was the one time when we failed to snag a scorecard before the round, so this epic achievement is recorded on the inside of a box of golf balls. A 45…

Charlie has been sick for the past four days. It began on Sunday with a high fever. In the Land of Coronavirus, this was unsettling. It was unsettling enough for the doctor to advise us to get Charlie tested for COVID-19, so after an aborted attempt at a testing center with too many patients and…

Did you hear? The Good Humor truck has a brand new jingle! This is great news for so many reasons: The original Good Humor jingle, “Turkey in the Straw,” was popularized in minstrel shows, and it was often paired with hateful, racist  lyrics, so replacing it was overdue. The new jingle is wonderful. The new…

Small but important point regarding Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: A New Hope. Skywalker gets the credit for using The Force to destroy the Death Star, turning off his targeting computer while flying down the Death Star’s trench and relying on this all-powerful, unseen power to guide his hand in making the most difficult of…

My friend, Bengi, has been busy digitizing the artifacts from our past. Letters, photos, souvenirs, and other paraphernalia. Some of it has been fantastic to see. A walk down memory lane. A blast from the past. Most of it, in fact. He’s reminded me of an archeologist, unearthing ancient, forgotten history. I remember much of…

I’m normally an excellent, highly efficient sleeper. I fall asleep less than a minute, and I almost always open my eyes before the alarm sounds. However, I’m also a frequent sleepwalker, and thanks to my PTSD, I can sometimes spend my nights fighting to stay alive through a series of terrifying  nightmares, which can make…

I finished reading Colin Jost’s memoir A Very Punchable Face. I liked it. I found it amusing, insightful, occasionally hilarious, and honest. As I read, I noticed some of the references that Jost made in his book. Things like: Pol Pot Lennie from Of Mice and Men Franz Kafka At least four references from Shakespearean…

Someone recently described me online as “a profoundly unpleasant person. I friended him on Facebook because I admired his work, but his smug sanctimony makes him one of the most disagreeable people I have ever encountered.” That’s a lot of superlatives. I also don’t think that person realized that I would see their comments, but…

Standing at the edge of the water, I listened as my daughter, Clara, introduced herself to a girl who was swimming nearby. After complimenting the girl’s swimsuit and pointing out her “sometimes annoying brother,” she turned and said, “That’s my father. He’s a teacher and an author.” Then she turned back and whispered, a little…

You may have heard about the high school student who posted a photo of a crowded hallway of unmasked students in North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia. This photo, posted to Instagram, earned her a suspension. Later that suspension was lifted when administrators realized that suspending a student for expressing concerns for the safety…