On What I’ve Been Up To

I haven’t felt much like blogging the last few weeks, the last two weeks especially. I haven’t lacked for things to say, life hasn’t been uninteresting. I haven’t cared to share any of it. Work has been keeping me busy. I haven’t been sleeping. I’ve been working on a WordPress project. I’ve been writing. I’veContinue reading “On What I’ve Been Up To”

On My Grandmother’s Death and Funeral

Last Saturday morning, July 23rd, my grandmother passed away. It was not a surprise. Her health, especially mentally but in recent months physically as well, had been in decline for years, and in the spring I knew her end would arrive soon. She was unaware of things at the end. She went in peace. TheContinue reading “On My Grandmother’s Death and Funeral”

On My Independence Day Plans

July 4th. Two epochal, world-changing events have fallen on July 4th. The first comes on July 4, 1776. In Kent that day, Horatio Hornblower was born, and he would become one of the Royal Navy’s greatest heroes, distinguishing himself at an early age and playing a significant role in the defeat of Napoleon. The secondContinue reading “On My Independence Day Plans”

On Striking High School Students

On Monday, I’m going to Washington DC for the first time since the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or March to Keep Fear Alive. The reason? The Chicago Cubs (my team) are in DC playing the Washington Nationals (my local team), and then I’m going to stick around in town for A Capitol Fourth, the concert/fireworksContinue reading “On Striking High School Students”

On My 2011 Shore Leave Schedule

We come to it at last, the great battle of our times. No, wait. That’s not right. Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup. No, that’s not it, either. Oh! I’ve got it! Next weekend, July 8th through 10th, in Hunt Valley, Maryland, is Shore Leave, a science-fiction and fantasy convention.Continue reading “On My 2011 Shore Leave Schedule”

On Wishing I Had More Time for Writing

This is going to sound nonsensical, but I’ll say it all the same. I wish I spent more time writing than I do. It’s nonsensical, in that I spend a lot of time writing. My day job is writing marketing copy; I’ve estimated that I produce between 80,000 and 100,000 words a month, depending onContinue reading “On Wishing I Had More Time for Writing”

On Long and Fruitless Commutes

Yesterday I felt like Odysseus. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the Greek hero Odysseus attempts to return home to Greece after the conclusion of the Trojan War. But his journey home is fraught with adventures and detours, and it takes him a decade to reach his home. Yesterday’s commute was like that. A southbound train brokeContinue reading “On Long and Fruitless Commutes”