Something remarkable happened over the past nine months. I went an entire television season without wanting to break up with any of my shows. This might not sound that remarkable, but I have managed to shed at least one show each of the past few years. Over time, I have found myself incapable of sitting […]
In January 1982, my brother Kevin took me to my first rock concert. Ostensibly. we went to the Cap Centre in Landover, Md., to see The Police, but the opening act made a much greater impression on me. After all, the Go-Go’s had the nation’s No. 1 album at the time of the show, narrowly […]
Sometimes I let my passions get the best of my better judgment. That’s my explanation for how “The Pig Did It” by Joseph Caldwell ended up on my stack of books. I love Ireland. My family originally emigrated from there ages ago, and I had a wonderful two-week visit to the island in the late […]
I had a dream. I dreamt I could order piece of a computer on the Internet and easily build my own machine. My family would live in a land of speed and magic. That’s what I thought three months ago when I hatched this scheme. To make things worse, I told friends about it and […]
As it happens sometimes in my family, we have a very busy summer ahead without even really trying. A couple of graduations, a wedding, the annual beach trip. It all adds up pretty quickly. Which means we have to find time when we can for other activities. We combined the two things a couple of […]
I try to maintain a happy attitude most of the time. That proves to be difficult sometimes, but I manage to generally stay positive. Carrying a good mood around on a Friday really isn’t that hard, but it’s much easier today thanks to my favorite TV shows. I hate when people make fun of watching […]
Twenty-five years ago, I wanted to move on more than anything. I had just a few weeks before I graduated high school and looked forward to the next challenge in life. I can’t say that I had a horrible time in high school. I took part in a number of activities, did well enough in […]
No, I’m not frequenting sketchy massage parlors. I simply have added a new television show to my weekly mix. “Happy Endings” premiered a month or so ago on ABC and has started to run through two episodes a week on Wednesday nights. I worried at first because the premiere of this show followed the run […]
I first truly discovered R.E.M. through “Life’s Rich Pageant,” the band’s fourth album. I bought a cassette over Christmas break from college in the summer of 1987, almost a year after it was released. I had heard some of the band’s songs at parties and on mix tapes from friends during my freshman year at […]
I remember coming home one day as a teenager to a deafening roar inside the house. Puzzled, I walked into the kitchen to find my mother, basically nonplussed by the noise. I looked at her quizzically. “Your father has a new toy,” she said. For some reason, Dad decided we needed surround sound for our […]