Final Reading Tally

I wrapped up my 2023 reading just under the wire by finishing the second book reviewed here on New Year’s Eve afternoon. I read 22 books for the year – more than I thought I had, but still a few shy of my goal. Other activities kept me busy so it wasn’t for a lack […]

What I’m Reading

Believe it or not, I do more than just improvise and play computer games. I had a goal of reading 25 books this year and think I’ll probably fall short. The four in this roundup get me to 16. I should definitely get to 20 though. Without further ado. Let’s Not Do That Again by Grant […]

I’m a Loser

I could not figure out today’s Wordle puzzle. And that’s OK. I didn’t share that one to the thread I use for my results because I don’t really need to share my failures. (I have a single Facebook thread for Wordle instead of making a new one every day.) But I feel like maybe I […]

Making the Grade … Barely

As many people are wont to do in their mid-40s, I have turned nostalgic. I have always had this streak, but the good times of college have really flooded back recently. A friend recently told me on Facebook that I needed to catalog all the stories from those days. So here I go. This will be […]

Going (Back) to the Go-Go’s

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 […]

ITEOTWAWKI: Pageant Anniversary

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 […]

A Little Song, A Little Dance …

Thanks to my friend Heidi, I discovered that today is a very important anniversary. Thirty-five years ago, the Chuckles Bites the Dust episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show aired. If you are not aware, this was perhaps the greatest television episode ever. Sadly, I had trouble finding a good video file of the best […]

Play the Game Right

I have long maintained that the game the kids today call Beer Pong is not really Beer Pong. To play something called Pong, you need to hit the ball with a paddle, not just toss it. Somehow Beirut (what the game should really be called) has gained more popularity over the years. Well, that has […]

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