I used to think each new year needed to come with a resolution, but I gave up that nonsense years ago.
New Year’s resolutions are the willpower’s equivalent to setting three alarms because you know you’ll sleep past the first two. It is an exercise in tricking yourself into trying to be a better self, with a safety net to cushion your inevitable failure. Read More
I’ve spent every Christmas Eve that I can remember at West Avon Congregational Church in my home town of Avon, Connecticut. This includes the years I lived in Texas, and the year just after Mom died, when Jenny and I stayed at a hotel with no refrigerator and our breakfast consisted of leftover pizza that froze in the car. Read More
I miss the prevalence of coin return slots. As a kid, I couldn’t pass a payphone or vending machine without pushing the coin return button and thrusting my fingers into the slot to see if there was any change inside.
Newspaper machines were my favorite and promised the biggest payout when they hit. A reward for persistence and for curiosity. Discovered treasure in a modern world.
I rarely ever put my fingers into strange places anymore… Read More
I love watching bad TV. Not all the time and not in some ironic hipster way. I simply watch to be entertained.
When the mood is right, like on a rainy Saturday, there’s nothing more relaxing. Read More
Today would have been Mom’s seventieth birthday; sadly, she never saw her sixty-sixth. Today’s date, December third, 12/3, remains etched into my soul, even now that she has passed.
I wanted to share something special for Mom’s seventieth birthday, so I modified a speech I first gave two years into a video titled “Choosing Hospice.”
Each time I’ve given this speech, it has helped someone who has gone (or is going) through a similar situation. Read More