A visit to the Wild Winds Buffalo Preserve reveals the beauty of a majestic animal and the disturbing history of its demise.
Our simple refinancing deal went way way off the rails. How Wells Fargo screwed me over with their incompetence and poor practices.
Sometimes the most mundane activity can become the most talked about event of the day. Case in point: here is the true, unembellished story of my recent trip to a local gas station/convenience store bathroom.
A musical response to the suffering in Ukraine and a plea for humanitarian aid.
Everybody’s talking about Will Smith’s Oscar slap on Chris Rock. I’m not usually interested in Hollywood happenings, but […]
Trees are flowering early again and some are ready to sprout leaves. It’s only March. Climate change is shifting seasonal cycles. What’s in store for us?
The crisis in Ukraine forces us to think about killing. Why it happens, whether it ever should, and what it takes to do it.
He had almost killed me with his recklessness, but his response was predictable. An extended middle finger and a shout of profanity as he passed. What else did I expect? This is America, where we think nobody has the right criticize us for any reason.
Making the Olympics better with air horns, rules that matter and a new technique for commentators.
Why I’ve decided to ignore expert blogging advice and just write what I want.
My family’s effort to share music and fight deforestation. We’re sharing our cover of Let It Snow for a donation, which goes to The Nature Conservancy’s “Plant A Billion Trees” Project.
Seinfeld fans may remember the episode where Kramer ends up hosting a show from his apartment, using the set from the old Merv Griffin Show. After several “episodes” and mishaps, he yanks the plug on the set lights, telling his sidekick Newman, “We need to re-tool.”
As a huge Prince fan, I was super excited to tour Paisley Park in suburban Minneapolis. Here’s what it was like to be inside the legendary musician’s creative playground.
How do we view people outside of our friends and family? Our answer shapes our society.
I got a problem with Easter. Aside from the bright spring colors and tasty chocolates, we do some pretty senseless stuff to celebrate, as I’ll explain.
When I finally picked up the phone and made the call, I got an answering machine. I waited for the beep, and said something that included the phrase “I need some help”. It was early spring, 17 years ago.
I’ve always been interested in plein-air artists that paint outdoors. Here’s my first attempt at combining original music & video in that style.
Call me uncultured but Dr. Suess is really the only poet I like. Amanda Gorman is good too. But on this 1rst Anniversary of last year’s Covid Shutdown- I decided to amuse myself with a poem about Covid-wear. Hopefully you’ll find it amusing too.
The skies are empty until suddenly, another V-Shaped squadron appears, seemingly out of nowhere. They glide peacefully and effortlessly above the lake, eventually breaking formation, each floating gracefully down into their own spot on the water. The surface is like a massive party, with thousands all talking at the same time.
I quit my teaching job about a year and a half ago. At school, I was counted as a retiree, but I really didn’t deserve that title. The others who retired with me had more years of service and really earned the title.
I was just a quitter. And I don’t say that to disparage myself- I have no problem with it. Besides I was only 49- too young to retire anyway.
I was driving through town with the radio on scan, playing every station it encountered for a few seconds each. One voice was so outrageous that it made me hold the station longer.
The scream was horrible. I could hear it two blocks away, coming from exactly where I feared it would. Orange Street. I thought I knew what that sound meant, but tried not to think about it as I reached into my pocket for my car keys. I couldn’t believe how quickly that dog had run out.
A giant football, spiked in the end zone through a concrete doughnut. That’s the iconic shape of the […]
“Somebody play dammit!” And in that moment, I think we all prayed that somebody would in fact, play. Fortunately, […]
I hate wearing a mask. It sucks.
Do you know what else sucks? Having to concentrate on the road while driving. And what’s with the “no alcohol behind the wheel” rule?
If all of this seems stupid to you- it is.
2020 is over! And while it was a rough one, there are some good things we should take into 2021.
Looking back on my rookie season as a blogger, I thought it would be interesting to see which posts were the most popular. If you missed them or would like to share or reread them- here they are…
This special edition of Who’s On Your Hero List highlights my 3 Christmas MVP’s.
We’re a family of musicians. Our house was usually noisy when my daughters were growing up (mostly my fault), and we had fun making up songs and messing around with various instruments. When the girls got into high school, we started to occasionally work on recording a few songs. Since 2018, we’ve recorded an annual holiday single and used it as a fundraiser for a charity or cause we believe in.
That’s right Harry Potter fans, I’m a Slytherin. The Hogwarts house of Voldemort, Lestrange and the Malfoys. A place of evil. But it’s not so simple. Slytherins are complex. After all, we’re also the house of Severus Snape and Merlin.
Like most people, Slytherins are a complicated bunch of conflicting impulses, both good and bad. Sometimes these impulses wage war on each other at the expense of the person they inhabit.
Read any of the Hogwarts House profiles online, and you’ll find that Slytherins have a strong self-preservation streak and can also be very loyal to those in their group. These are the two traits that caused my recent Covid conflict.
After what seemed like an eternity of campaigning and waiting, we finally have a decision in the presidential election. And no matter how you feel about that, there is one thing I hope we will all remember:
There is no “them”. There’s only us.
I had just voted for myself. It felt exciting and very weird. I was thinking a bit nervously about what a councilman’s workload might be like as I walked out of our fire station polling place and into the cool, damp November air. It was cloudy and dreary. Good weather for worrying.
I wasn’t worried about losing. That I could handle. I was worried about doing a good job if I won.
While standing outside talking to someone I knew, a trash-talker from the other party came over and started in on me.
My daughter’s kindergarten class blew it during Show & Tell and they were all unhappy. Unfortunately, a lot of us adults act the same way in our daily lives.
I shot and produced this video myself this week. It goes with an original song I recorded late this summer, calling us all to make positive, needed change in the world.
NEW YORK (GP)- Well-known cereal lover Charlie Johnson shocked the breakfast food community today by apologizing for disparaging remarks he made regarding another popular breakfast food- bagels.
Johnson spoke to the media today after pictures surfaced of him eating bagels at various local establishments.
I was already nearby and knew I wouldn’t be this close again for a long time. Maybe for years. I decide to go, asking Siri for directions to 38th & Chicago.
It’s about 4 miles away. Down a short stretch of bypass, I turn onto South Cedar Street, passing the tipi polls at Little Earth (www.littleearth.org). Later, as the right turn onto 38th approaches, the houses get nicer. The cars outside on the street get nicer too. Dogs are being walked.
I was in high school when I first began to realize how deeply racial issues effect America. On the other hand, that seemed like the stuff of history, and I naively thought that my generation was the first to move past racism. But my post racial assumptions were completely wrong.
As a brief distraction from life or as common ground for the start of important conversations, football gives us an opportunity to refresh. In a year like this- we need it.
School isn’t usually controversial, but this year it is. Should instruction be online or in person? Should certain activities, sports, chorus, etc. be cancelled? How can social distancing be achieved in a system not designed for that? The list of questions seems endless.
So, how do teachers feel about starting school during a pandemic? I spoke with several to find out.
Five O’Clock Shadow writer Todd Fulginiti shares 3 people he admires.
Five O'Clock Shadow 