Early warning system
My kid cannot keep a secret. I don’t think he even tries. Despite being an exceptionally intelligent child, I’m not sure he grasps the idea of confidence. To him, secrecy means you tell somebody...
Category: Suburban warrior
The 500 Club
Admittedly, we’d had a couple of cocktails. After a gathering of friends for a neighborhood Christmas parade last night, G-Rob, T and I went out for a bite of sushi and a few drinks....
Pardon our mess
Last summer, the family and I drove up the mountain to Caesars Head. It’s little more than an outcropping of rock in Blue Ridge Mountains that looks vaguely like a face, but it’s a...
Friday Mental Massage: The big purge
After three days of near-constant downpours, the sun has come out over G-Vegas. The sky is blue, the air is cool, and it feels exactly as a South Carolina December should. As you might...
Time for some time
The more and more I read comments, e-mails, and the like, it’s become clear I need a few days to get my head together. The time I spend online is time I enjoy, but...
Where’s my passport?
(Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico)— Several years ago, I established the 80-20 rule in regard to what I write publicly about the behind-the-scenes parts of my work. Eighty percent never gets written. Twenty percent is written...
Road head
His hair was cut in a 1985 five-inch spike and not in a cool way. He was watching a show about a serial killer on the Discovery Channel. I don’t remember his name and...
Secret handshake
Last night, I met a guy who slings hemp bracelets. That’s not drug code or anything (the drug dealer was a different guy a few seats down the bar). The bracelet guy actually makes...
Riding bitch in a Honda Karma
“You’re inviting some bad karma,” my wife said before she shut up. That I had already picked up a speeding ticket and sat in stop-and-go traffic for a few hours didn’t seem to factor...
Winning dirty
(Florida) — The boy was supposed to be napping. He was a sweaty, tired mess. The morning began with meeting a beach Santa in a torrential downpour. When the skies cleared, he led us...
Oblivious
(Florida) — We found a joint with some character today and went for some po’ boys. The place was packed and played the Beatles. I dug it, including the part where the menu was...
When I’m wrong, I’m wrong
I woke up this morning in a house worth more than I’ll probably make in my lifetime. The bed was as comfortable as any I’ve ever enjoyed. My wife was beside me. She opened...
Applause
(Somewhere near Destin, FL)–The old hippie stood on the steps and held a half-smoked cigarette between his lips. He clapped slowly, a lazy waltz beat on his hands. And I thought, “What? Is this...
XM-Sirius merger outlaws alt-country
I was a kid when Springfield, Missouri’s Rock 99 changed its format to adult contemporary. I sat in my younger brother’s room and looked at what we called a jam box. Even then, at...