This afternoon I went to Big Lots. I needed a fan for my apartment; the motor for my fan had seized up and burned out. I pulled into a parking space, and I saw a man of an indeterminate age, dressed mainly in brown, shuffling through the parking lot toward my Beetle, shuffling as thoughContinue reading “An Encounter at Big Lots”
A Mandela Moment
Today is my coworker Lance’s birthday. Had I known, I’d have picked him up a cake on my way into the office. Though we don’t have a “birthday club” in Marketing, no one would say no to a birthday cake. And when I told Lance that he should have told me that today was hisContinue reading “A Mandela Moment”
Leaving Flowers
Friday I took a vacation day. Though long planned, for about five months, I needed the day badly; work has been mentally exhausting and physically draining this year, and with the never-ending publishing cycle of writing and deadlines I have always struggled to even take the minimum required five vacation days each year, and it’sContinue reading “Leaving Flowers”
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Lost Friendships
William Shatner published a new autobiography this week, Live Long and… What I Learned Along the Way. In the book, Shatner reveals that, when Leonard Nimoy died in 2015, he didn’t attend Nimoy’s funeral because of a Red Cross fundraiser in Florida scheduled for the same night as the funeral but because he had beenContinue reading “William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Lost Friendships”
Adventures in a Mudslide
It took two hours to get home last night. One of my coworkers insisted I should leave early, at five, since it was a Friday and a three-day weekend, but I was in the middle of a project I wanted to finish, which I did, and I left at 5:30. The trip home was pleasant…Continue reading “Adventures in a Mudslide”
Christopher Robin
Tonight after work I went to see Christopher Robin. I went into the film with a deep misgiving, and I left the film with a deep misgiving, but the misgiving I had going in was not the misgiving I had coming out. Christopher Robin, the character in the Pooh stories, was based on Christopher RobinContinue reading “Christopher Robin”
A Random Encounter
Something happened on Saturday at Harrisburg Senators game that I’ve been thinking about for the last few days. Not an intensive thinking. A background thinking. I arrived about when the gates opened, and I wandered around the ballpark. I was on the concourse, looking at the food options, when a woman, early twenties, working behindContinue reading “A Random Encounter”
The Wasp’s Tale
There was a wasp in the Beetle this morning. I didn’t notice until I was half a mile from home. I was on Oak Road, minding my own business, when a wasp comes out of nowhere and begins beating furiously against the (closed) driver’s side window. Startled, I cracked open both windows in the hopeContinue reading “The Wasp’s Tale”
Rainfall at Night
Rain began falling in the bottom of the 9th. The Senators were down 5-1. They hadn’t been able to muster any offense to speak of all game; indeed, their only run came on a wild pitch. I had no expectation that with three outs remaining, then two, and finally one, that the Senators would findContinue reading “Rainfall at Night”
Exploring Cemeteries in Leesburg
Over the weekend, I went down to Virginia to visit my parents, whom I’d not seen since the Carbon Leaf show back in March. On the way down, I decided, I would to visit a cemetery in Leesburg, Virginia; according to Find-a-Grave, my great-grandfather’s brother James is buried there. I’d been skeptical of Find-a-Grave’s information,Continue reading “Exploring Cemeteries in Leesburg”