Waiting for My Real Life to Begin

Let’s take a trip, shall we? Our destination is Chautauqua Lake, September 2021. The pandemic is largely past us, COVID vaccines having become widely available. Hurricane Ida blew through Philadelphia just over a week ago, leaving massive flooding along the banks of the Schuylkill River. Our newly purchased Honda Civic, which we drove home through

Rethinking: Week One

This past Saturday, my wife and I returned to the King of Prussia Mall, and somehow, we survived. Frankly, it was a much better experience than usual, which isn’t all that hard, I suppose, considering the loathing I bear towards KoP. The difference? We came in with a plan, an agenda, and we pursued that

The Answer Is 42

Well, it’s here. This week, I attain the magical age of 42, which according to scriptures means I’ll finally have the answer to life, the universe, and everything. The problem, of course, is that no one knows what the question is. I guess that comes later, because I have no fucking clue. What I do

Feeling Like a Million

For anyone who’s been reading this blog over the last several years, you probably know my wife and I haven’t had the smoothest transition to Philadelphia. We moved mid-pandemic, and by the time the city opened back up, we were already settled into our insular lifestyle. Then my father died and my mom got very

And Another Makes Three

Well, well, well. Would you look at that? Somehow, some way, it’s been three years since I started writing this blog. For three years, I’ve published something every week in this space, from long, two-part reflections on growing up Lutheran to short pieces about midwestern cooking, with a healthy sprinkling of paragraph-length apologias mixed in. 

Feel the Hurt

Let’s not mince words. Being hurt sucks. It doesn’t matter how it happens or how bad it is, when injuries get in the way of doing the things you want to do, it’s a pain in the ass. From major hurts like torn ligaments and broken bones to the nagging ouchies of pulled muscles and

Coming “Home” Again

In August 2007, I took what felt like the biggest gamble in my life. After 25 years of living within 50 miles of Columbus, I packed my ABF U-Pack crate, loaded up my 1993 Ford Taurus, and moved roughly 540 miles west on I-70 in pursuit of my PhD in Theatre at the University of

Getting Up the Gumption

Sometimes I feel a little stuck. I’ve written this in my blog enough times by now that I wouldn’t blame you for tuning out. In post after post, I write about the times when I feel like I’m stuck in neutral, coasting through the calendar as time whooshes past, hours and days and months blowing

A Good Week for Writing

It was only a couple of weeks ago when I wrote about my goals, and how they weren’t producing the results I’d hoped. I realized that while I was checking off boxes every day, I wasn’t feeling fulfilled. I had constructed my daily routine to emphasize busy work, crowding out productive, useful effort. My end

Baltimore Revisited

Even if you’ve only read a few of my blog posts, you can probably tell I’m addicted to the past. In its healthiest form, this fixation explains why I’m so fascinated by history, both near and distant. I love diving into the factors that underlie the world we live in, as historians attempt to explain