2020 is coming to an end tonight. It was an odd year. Certainly not the worst year for me personally. 2015 and 2016 were way worse. It might be the worst year in my lifetime for us, though. When the year started, 2020 sounded like such a big number. The future had arrived. While I…
On January 1st, 2020, I was in a teacher’s training program to become an elementary school teacher. Today, December 31st, I don’t know if I ever want to work in a school again. That transformation needs its own essay. But I want to try to end 2020 with a good memory, so here’s my favorite…
My cat doesn’t eat human food. I’d say I’m lucky, but it’s how I raised him. I never give him anything except cat food. He doesn’t beg or try to steal my food. He seems perfectly content and I’m happy with a polite pet. Tonight, however, was different. We got Chinese takeout and the cat…
My car was in the shop recently, so I was driving a borrowed car for a few days. Normally, when I drive, I listen to CDs or my iPod. (Yes, I said iPod. The old school iPods are way better than smartphones as music players.) Since it was temporary, I decided not to load any…
Of all the threats that the information age has brought up, privacy has always seemed like the least big deal. I’m sure a lot of that is because I lead a boring life. People can spy on me all they want and they’re unlikely to uncover anything embarrassing. I mean, I do trip and fall…
I haven’t posted anything about politics since election day. So many people have been so happy with the results. People were literally dancing in the streets. I don’t want to mess with that. I want people to be happy, I really do. I just don’t get where that happiness is coming from. I know Biden…
We got a little over a foot of snow about a week ago. It felt like we got about a foot of rain yesterday. All the snow is gone except for the big piles in parking lots. It seems like that’s the way winter works now. We get some snow, but it doesn’t hang around…
My daughter asked me, “What’s your favorite part about Christmas?” I told her that my favorite part is watching her open her presents. She said, “Why do you like watching someone else have fun if you’re not having fun yourself?” I told her that it’s hard to explain, but that it’s part of being a…
I hate wrapping presents. It takes a shocking amount of effort to get them to not look like they were done by a five year old in a hurry. I used to work retail at a place that offered complimentary gift wrapping. I dreaded customers requesting it. I passed it off to my coworkers whenever…
I recently wrote a three part mini-series. Part one was on the self. Part two was on knowing other people. Part three was on Santa Claus. The connecting thread was the fact that these are three things that are experienced, but it is unclear (to say the least) in what sense they are real. I…
