Regular Life

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Driving home from work on a rainy Friday evening, I approached a few cars queued at a red light. We [...]

Shannon, Ben, and I went to the hospital yesterday to welcome Alvis’ and his wife’s latest contribution to the gene pool. I mean, to see that cute baby they made.
Above is the view I had on my drive home (I was in the minivan with Ben, because I had handed Shannon the keys to the [...]

I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.
— the late Mitch Hedberg, comedian and actor
My recent viewing of Walk the Line reminded me that we lose far too many artists to drugs. No, Johnny Cash didn’t die from drug use (directly, anyway), but [...]

A First for Me
I’ve clung giddily to a trolley car as it flattened the rolling San Francisco hills. I’ve snorkeled off the Florida keys. I’ve hiked up an extinct volcano in New Mexico and posed for a picture near its rim, and on the same trip felt the sting of blowing sand at the Great [...]

In a class late last week, a few of us discussed the highs and lows of our company’s three-tiered dress code. One woman sat to my right and two others sat to my left. Of course, here at a company that within the past year required everyone to undergo sexual harassment awareness training, I managed [...]

Even a casual observer of modern society could conclude that adversity alone is interesting. Most people are not addicted to drugs, do not have abusive spouses, have never teetered on the brink of suicide, and never have been sexually abused. Artists who have been through any of this or a myriad of other tribulations provide [...]

Does this locally owned restaurant remind you of anything you might see in just about any city in America? The brown and tan, the coffee. Come on. You know this one.
After scarfing down my lunch Thursday, I finally took a picture, thanks to an overcast sky (Nature’s light box). Harsh sun at noon ruined the [...]

I stand working at the laptop on our kitchen island, reading aloud the affidavits of people who sued their opthalmalogists for malpractice. I glance at Shannon to see whether she’s interested.
One of her feet is on the floor. The other is in the kitchen sink, fresh nail polish glistening in the fluorescent light. Not as [...]

This is an update on Shannon’s eyes, but let me start by saying… can we keep doctors out of our lives for just one week, please?
Last month, Shannon reported to her LASIK surgeon to have her right eye checked. The enhancement on that eye had gone okay, and her vision in it was much better [...]

(notice and name for points Ben’s toys near the wall)
I’ve always heard people warn against dramatizing every little boo-boo, but one can go too far the other direction. The child needs to have reassurance that the parents are there in times of crisis, but also be given room to develop coping strategies.
Frankly, I’m offended anyone [...]