It was disappointing to see that Trump won the Presidential Election this week. I am still baffled that more than half of my fellow citizens can vote for this guy. Regardless of his political positions, I cannot stomach his arrogance, lying, bullshitting and generally reprehensible behavior. I could never vote for someone like him. But…
Mirror Mirror
I haven’t been writing as much lately because I’ve been doing home improvement projects that are consuming most of my free time. After reading blogs and watching YouTube tutorials to learn how to do something, buying tools and supplies, and doing the actual work, I don’t have the time or energy to do much else….
Wall Of Death
Looking at old photos of my wife and pets who are no longer with me makes my chest ache and brings tears to my eyes. I can’t do this for very long because of the sadness it brings. The feelings these photos stir up are bittersweet. I recall times of celebration, love and delight while…
Artistic Deviations
Ever since I took down the paintings off of my walls earlier this month I have not drawn or painted a single picture. My afternoons have been jam packed with other activity. I patched, sanded and painted all the holes (over 200 of them). I painted the interior of my walk-in closet, a couple of…
Walmart Frenzy
With all of the headlines (and the reality) about inflation, predatory pricing and ever increasing costs of goods, I expected that retail shopping would be taking a significant hit. Personally, even with my limited amount of purchasing and general anti-consumerism tendencies, I cannot help but notice significant prices increases in the food and items I…
Family Rescue
When Hurricane Helena hit North Carolina recently, several mountain towns near Asheville were devastated by floods and mudslides. Houses were flooded. Roads were washed away. Power, water, communications and basic services were nonexistent. People were stranded. If they were lucky, they had shelter and a few days supply of essentials. But with roads and bridges…
At Arm’s Length
In 2001, my wife and I relocated from our hometown of Pittsburgh to South Florida to be closer to the kids (who lived with their father in Miami), to enjoy the weather, and to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine. I was thrilled and looked forward to all of the experiences and adventures I imagined…
Bare Walls
After painting for 5 years, I had more than 250 paintings hung up in every free space of my home. As a minimalist, eventually this became overwhelming. I would walk past my neighbors’ homes lit up at night I’d see a few carefully selected frame pieces of art on a wall and think, “That’s what…
Respect
While listening to a podcast that I subscribe to, I realized that I hadn’t enjoyed listening to it for quite some time. It occurred to me that I do not like the host. Even worse, I don’t respect him. The host was raised in an upper middle class family and lived a life of wealth…
Nobody’s Blowing Up Your iPhone
Israel’s recent targeted attack that blew up the pagers and walkie talkies used by Hezbollah was all over the news last week. Reportedly more than 4000 were blown up over two days, injuring many people and killing some. This has been breathlessly reported by many in the media as a “James Bond type” sophisticated attack….