This morning I turned in my Angel Tree package at work. This year, it was for a seven year-old boy. When I was seven, my parents gave me a hardcover copy of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. The book is well-loved and sits, to this day, on the bookshelf in my dining room. I tried to get … Continue reading An Angel Tree Package
Category: Life
I happened to turn around and caught a glimpse of the rising moon through my office window.
Since it’s a rainy, gross morning in Pennsylvania, I’ve spent the morning going through photographs on my phone, culling them. And that brings me to this photo. This is a painting that hung in my room in the intensive care ward at St. Joseph’s earlier this month. It’s an autumn painting, a blanket of leaves … Continue reading A Gatsby Party
We had some powerful rain and wind, which put a crimp in my need to go to the grocery store; I didn’t want to go out in the rain. After the rain, however, there were fantastic clouds. I settled on making chili for dinner. Seemed appropriate.
My optic nerves are angy! Stan Lee would have written this line unironically, circa 1965, in an issue of The Incredible Hulk or Avengers with a cover burst that screamed, “Tremble before the rage of the monster’s eyes!” It also happens to describe what’s happening inside my own eyes. I spent almost a week in … Continue reading The New Optical Adventure
I went to church this morning. Not from any religious conviction, but because I spent the last week in the hospital (that story to come) and my sister said to me yesterday that, after a week of being surrounded by doctors and nurses, I must be lonely at home by myself. And where can one … Continue reading Out and About on a Dreary Sunday
Today I took at tour of Washington’s National Cathedral. This is something I had been wanting to do for a while, ever since they announced they were building a LEGO replica of the cathedral, and it was just a matter of finding the time. A vacation day was scheduled, a ticket for that night’s Washington … Continue reading Touring the National Cathedral
When I get home from work tonight, I get to set up a new phone. For you see, I am, like Daffy Duck, a maroon. A week ago, I was petting Jones, the neighborhood cat. It was a nice evening, Jones was stretched out in my lap asleep, I was petting him with one hand, … Continue reading Replacing the Phone
There was a lovely sunset tonight in North Carolina. Rain threatened and never came, but the clouds left behind were gorgeous.
Apologies to Simon and Garfunkel. This week marks the annual Dallastown Fair. Having nothing to do last night, after eating dinner, I walked into town and went to the fair. It was every bit as unenthralling as I remembered. A midway of carnival rides and games. Food stands by local restaurants and churches. Farm equipment. … Continue reading Are You Going to Dallastown Fair?
A couple of weeks ago Facebook showed me an ad. Usually I ignore ads on Facebook, but this one caught my attention. A Snoopy t-shirt commemorating the Apollo 11 landing! Fifty years ago come Saturday! The shirt is, naturally, unlicensed and unofficial. The Charles Schulz estate is receiving nothing from this shirt. And Snoopy, frankly, … Continue reading Boldly Going Where No Beagle Has Gone Before
I keep a Rubik’s Cube on my desk at the office. It’s something I can fiddle with when I’m thinking. Sometimes I’ll even take it into meetings. A couple of turns here, a couple of turns there, and if I mess it up, there’s an online solution — You Can Do the Rubik’s Cube — … Continue reading Learning to Solve the Cube