10 things I’ve been keeping from you — Given I’ve been writing here for three years, coming up with 10 things you couldn’t know about me was harder than I’d expected. I’ve already written about my estrangement from my father, getting married at 21, even my time bagging groceries. I think I've mentioned Star Wars before. …

Social conventions were unequal to my introverted apathy — In the Long Ago, the edicts governing suburban life were laid down on stone tablets procured from a Sears catalog. Such rules included things such as: thy lawn shall be shorter than thy neighbor’s, lest thou appear a lazy slob. thou shall not blocketh the sidewalk with thy motor vehicle. …

Leaving room for serendipity — Sometimes I think about how much of my life has been a result of happy accidents. Occasions where, had I turned left instead of right, I’d be living an entirely different life. I guess that’s life in a nutshell, but it is interesting to think about. I moved to a…

One for each year — I turn 44 today. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. Maybe I’ll return it for a smaller size. Here are some things I’ve realized from my accumulated time among you fine people. I hesitate to call it wisdom because, well, you’ll see. Real love is choosing not…

This morning I was appreciating the pleasant soreness and slight, residual swoleness of lifting yesterday. There’s something so satisfying about the way the skin feels stretched, as though the bicep might come bursting out, Kool-Aid man style. Although if that actually happened, it would probably be horrific. As I was…

Supposedly for furries, but nobody craps in a box — My home city was recently in the national news after a nutjob claimed the schools had put a litter box in the unisex bathroom for kids that identified as a furry. (A furry is someone who pretends to be an animal.) As is commonly done these days, the woman made…

Or: why I feel so damn tired all the time — “How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December before it’s June. My goodness, how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” ~ Dr. Seuss Working a full time job while running a publication and writing is to be perpetually…

They’re not SMART* goals but they're not dumb either — I tend not to place much importance on a new year. What really makes January 1 any different than December 31 or July 9? A day is a day is a day; any and all of them are useful for making fresh starts. None of the really important changes in…

‘Halo Infinite’ brought me back to life — Everybody hates Mondays. They are the ‘Jar Jar Binks’ of days: Meesa hates that the weekend is so far away. …

Someday, someone will need to reckon with them — I didn’t know my neighbor was a hoarder until he moved. Joe was a retired 50-something living alone in a 3000 square foot house. He stayed after his wife left and after his kids moved away, lingering in a town hundreds of miles from the rest of his family in…

No thanks I’d rather not — Abraham Lincoln has a famous quote about cutting down a tree: ‘give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe’. Four hours!? I get that they didn’t have the Internet in Abe’s day, that electricity and soap were novelties, but…

And we don’t even notice — I was five years-old when I saw my first dead body. A severe, taciturn Italian-American woman, my great-grandmother had terrified me in life, and as we stepped to the open casket to pay our respects, I discovered that death only intensified such feelings. “It’s okay if you want to kiss…

Dark Side Edition — I am not a negative person. I am an optimist, a dreamer. It’s not that I don’t dislike certain things, I’d simply rather live on the bright side of life. Your perception determines your reality, and all that. And yet. Paul Combs tagged me on his Dark Side rendition of…

With pictures and fun anecdotes — The impetus for this idea came a GQ YouTube series, wherein various celebs show-off the 10 things they can’t live without. I’m sorta addicted to it. It’s endlessly fascinating. Here’s Dan Levy’s: I thought it might be fun to show some of my essential things, and maybe prompt you…

Just keep paddling — I am in the midst of a glorious staycation. We left the kids with their grandparents last weekend and have been enjoying life sans kids. …

9x Top Writer. Pop Culture Geek. Gamer. All-Around Nerd. — I was born 9 months after Star Wars premiered in 1977, which naturally suggests my mom’s womb quickened on its own after she saw the film. I get it — these movies make me feel things too. …

In sequential order — They say that smell triggers memory. It’s the reason my wife gets nostalgic whenever she smells manure. While I’m busy rolling up the windows, she smiles wistfully, lost in bright adventures on her grandparent’s farm. Smells have never really done that for me. Music is the key that unlocks my…

But I can’t keep them in the shallows forever — I recently returned from a short family vacation here in Michigan, our first in almost two years. We were antsy to get out of town, get out of the house, go someplace new, see different things. …

Leverage the power of inertia — Back in school, I never raised my hand. I avoided reading out loud. 2Pac may have wanted all eyes on him, but I hated it. Worse was the fact that my discomfort was glaringly obvious. Blushing may seem endearing but trust me, it doesn’t feel all that cute when your…

‘Back to the Future’ is a perfect movie with an imperfect message — Retro Rewind is a weekly series that reconsiders pre-2000 pop culture. More here. My parents divorced shortly before Back to the Future released. Dragged under by a swirling riptide of confusion and fear, I found comfort in the story of the McFlys and hope in the reparation of their family…