Author Archives: Allyn Gibson

A Genealogical Find

A few days ago I bought In the Shadow of the United States Capitol: Congressional Cemetery and the Memory of the Nation, a history of the historic cemetery in Washington, DC, by Abby Arthur Johnson and Ronald Maberry Johnson. I didn’t know of this book before Sunday; then I received a email about a saleContinue reading “A Genealogical Find”

The Daily Cloud: September 4

I genuinely thought about going to Erie, Pennsylvania this weekend. No reason. I could have hit some rock n’ roll shows in Steubenville, Youngstown, and Pittsburgh… Maybe I could have had a pig in competition in the livestock pavilion at the state fair… Listened to Del Paxton’s Time to Blow… Oneders Night! Erie’s favorite one-hitContinue reading “The Daily Cloud: September 4”

The Last Weekend of the Year on the Island

Where has summer gone? It seems like it was only days ago that I attended my first baseball game in a year and a half. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I attended my first baseball game in Lancaster? No. No, it was not. Those were in May and June. Labor Day is next week. HalloweenContinue reading “The Last Weekend of the Year on the Island”

An Explosion of Trees

Last weekend I was in the Baltimore area. A former colleague from Diamond was holding a comics and toys show in Westminster, so I drove down to show my support. After, I drove down to visit the cemeteries, which I’d not done since Memorial Day. I was both glad and sad that I did. GladContinue reading “An Explosion of Trees”

Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Gundam

I really don’t know anything about Gundam, even after selling Gundam video games at EB Games, then writing about Gundam models for the past fourteen years at Diamond Comic Distributors, except that it involves giant robots. And that’s okay! I don’t need to know anything more than that. Yet, when I had to write someContinue reading “Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Gundam”

Rethinking the LEGO Tower

There’s a fundamental law to building with LEGO, especially if you’re making something original, not building to blueprints. A LEGO creation isn’t right until it’s right. It may take some tinkering at the edges. It may require a teardown and rebuild. It may have to sit six weeks or six months. But it’s not rightContinue reading “Rethinking the LEGO Tower”

Memorial Day at the Cemeteries

No Memorial Day parade in Dallastown yesterday — a casualty of the COVID pandemic, no doubt — so I went down to Baltimore to visit the cemeteries of my grandparents and great-grandparents and leave flags. I hadn’t been down that way since March, when I lined up the old photograph of the trolley at LoudonContinue reading “Memorial Day at the Cemeteries”