Fifteen years ago I knew a woman named Rachel. She was pretty. She wasn't especially tall. She had very straight and very black hair. Her features were somewhat elfen. I sometimes thought that if you slapped a pair of pointed ear appliances on her, she'd have made a decent Vulcan out of the box. SheContinue reading “On Unusual Pizza Toppings”
Category Archives: Life
On Eulogizing a Man I Didn’t Know
Three years ago, I began taking the Baltimore mass transit system to work. There’s a subway station near my house, there’s a light rail stop two blocks from the office that I can see from my sixth floor office. Why drive the Baltimore Beltway, when I can use public transportation? Not only is it theContinue reading “On Eulogizing a Man I Didn’t Know”
On Purchasing a Smartphone
“I’m an eejit, Ted.” How many times did Father Dougal McGuire exclaim that in Father Ted? No, don’t tell me. It may be something like, “Quick, Watson, the needle!” A line that Sherlock Holmes never ever said, yet everyone thinks he did. Still, I felt a bit like Dougal today. Not without reason, mind you.Continue reading “On Purchasing a Smartphone”
On Smartphone Musings
A few days ago, while reading Slate, an thought popped in my head. Why don’t I get a smartphone? It was this article, on the MetroPCS Samsung Craft, which the writer for Slate called “the worst cell phone on Earth,” that made me think about it. Maybe I should get a mobile phone. I hadContinue reading “On Smartphone Musings”
On Wishing For Winter’s End
It is official. I am tired of winter. A record-setting snowfall fell overnight Wednesday, between seven-and-a-half and eight inches. My drive home Wednesday night from the office was frought with peril; it was raining when I left the office, sleeting when I reached the interstate, snowing when I reached the Owings Mills Expressway, blizzard conditionsContinue reading “On Wishing For Winter’s End”
On Wordle Artwork
For those who care about such things, I’ve made Wordles — pictures of my words — of the last week’s worth of blog postings: And of the letter I wrote to my sixteen year-old self last New Year’s: It’s just a fun thing, to see how words look. I love the font on the latter.Continue reading “On Wordle Artwork”
On a Month Until Farpoint
I realized today that we’re a month away from Farpoint. Farpoint is a science-fiction convention held north of Baltimore every February (right next to the building where I work, actually), usually right around Valentine’s Day. This year it falls the weekend after, beginning on February the 18th. I’ve been attending Farpoint since 2006, and thisContinue reading “On a Month Until Farpoint”
On the Beetle, in Snow
Note: This isn’t really a blog post, at least not in the way that I conceive of blog posts. During my train commute, many mornings I will write. Sometimes, it’s writing for work. Sometimes, it’s drabbles or other fiction. And sometimes, it’s just whatever happens to be on my mind. I’ve decided to present someContinue reading “On the Beetle, in Snow”
On the Silence of Winter
The world is strangely silent tonight. Despite a main highway, there’s been little traffic, and not just because of the holiday. The world is taking a breath as a winter storm moves in. Snow began falling a little while ago. The back walk, which had been cleared since the last snowfall, now has a quarterContinue reading “On the Silence of Winter”
On My Childhood Superhero
I suppose it was inevitable that my life would end up surrounded by superheroes. My first job was in a comic book shop. I write about superheroes most every day of the week at work. Some would find this surprising, knowing how little of Marvel Comics’ output I read (right now, just Thor, and I’mContinue reading “On My Childhood Superhero”