A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… right around the end of The Empire Strikes Back… Luke: Leia, Chewie, C3P0, R2D2, Lando, thanks for meeting.  Okay, it’s been a rough couple months, I know we’re all pretty shaken.  C3P0 got blown to bits, Han’s frozen in carbonite— Chebacca:  Graawwnk! Luke: I know, […]

So, I ran my first 10k race yesterday.  Yes, I know – “Ooh, a whole 10 kilometers?  Well, you just rest those rocket launchers there, Mr. Prefontaine, while I dial the Guinness people for you.”  But it was the first one I’ve done, and only the second race I’ve ever been in.  So it was […]

As anyone who composes a blog discovers, one of the little joys is seeing the Google searches that lead people to your site.  Sometimes it’s just kind of nice (“Wow, they looked specifically for me!”), sometimes it’s illuminating (“Wow, a lot of people want pictures of balloons”), sometimes it makes you shake your head (“Wow, […]

Yesterday was a day for a couple good omens, which it seems like everyone could use right now.  One good omen involves some friends of ours who may be coming to the end of a very dark period in their lives.  The other was that my garage is clean. One is possibly a bigger positive […]

Dear Teachers, Welcome back, staff of Lakeshore High!  I hope you had a terrific summer and that you’re excited for another great year!  Remember how important your job is, and that our community respects and appreciates what you do here.  Some of you may be feeling discouraged after last week’s “Teachers are Lazy, Inept, Leeches […]

So, does everyone have these moments?  These moments where you think “I’m never going to get the hang of this ‘being a grown-up’ thing”?  Moments where the opportunity presents itself to be a responsible, forward-thinking adult and you kindly pass, thank you, I’ll go for juvenile and short-sighted?  I’m talking to a friend and he […]

Recently I went for dinner with a friend to this Thai place. It’s one of those places where you specify how spicy you want the food on a scale of 1 to 25.  Now, I don’t pretend to be all super-spicy food guy (“Yeah, I like my salsa to be cruel!  It should punch me […]

I would carry around a recording of a hawk’s cry, and play it every time I entered a room. I would litter, and when people looked at me funny, say, “Problem?” I would open a casino advertising an “authentic Indian experience.”  Then I would make the games extra hard to win.  If someone did win, […]