Missed Opportunity

Posted inAmerica, Columns
When I first saw the official-looking letter, I got worried for a second. After all, you don’t expect to get mail from federal court. But then I looked closer. The…

Lettuce Struggle

Posted inColumns, Food
Every once in a while, I get a hankering to make positive changes in my diet. I take stock of what I have been eating and vow to eat healthier.…

Beauty in the Ordinary Things

Posted inColumns, TV

This year has challenged my TV geek ways. I have watched shows I like get the axe. The fascination with dancing and singing competitions continue to succeed, something I just don’t get. And I have had to bid farewell to a few of my favorite shows.

One of them, “The Office,” bowed out this week. I have always felt a strong connection to the show because of its small-town roots and the fact that my wife and I met at work, just like Jim and Pam. I kind of identified with them in some ways.

Shaken, Not Stirred

Posted inBaltimore, Columns

Sometimes you hear news which you know really doesn’t affect the world too much, but makes you stop and pause because of how it affects your world.

That’s how I felt a couple of weeks ago when one of my oldest friends in the world posted that the place where we worked at teenagers had closed its doors for good.

From the fall of 1984 to early 1992 (off and on, of course), I worked at Oasis, one of the permanent kiosks in Baltimore’s Harborplace. We sold fresh lemonade, Italian ice and plenty of other drinks, making the shop pretty popular on hot summer days.

One of my neighbors – the father of Paul, the guy who told me about the closing – started the business with a friend of his. That connection helped me get the job when I turned 16. I already knew most of the crew either from growing up or because my sister worked there so it made sense.

Paul’s family eventually got out of the ownership side, but I had plunged full long into the Oasis culture by then. I worked there year-round during high school, during all my breaks in college and even picked up a bunch of hours there when I found myself out of a job a year after college.

In fact, Oasis was my last job before I moved to Hanover to work for the paper more than 20 years ago. It’s kind of a bridge between my time in Baltimore and the life I have now.

Falling Down

Posted inColumns, Making an Idiot Out of Myself

The same thing happens each year. My theatre friends try to goad me into auditioning for a musical. I remind them I can’t sing or dance. The show passes by, only for the same cycle to repeat six months or so later.

If I had only brought a video camera with me to the York Ice Arena last weekend, I might have convinced them for good that I don’t have the grace for that kind of performance.

I headed over to that facility to cover an arena football game for the York Daily Record. I love getting to experience new things and had never covered the indoor variety of the sport.

As is my custom, I checked out the concession stand at halftime. The visiting team from Harrisburg had taken a huge lead so I pretty much knew how my story would go at that point. Why not enjoy a soft pretzel?

That didn’t cause me any problems, but the action after my snack did. I went to go throw away my trash, making my way across the bleachers to the nearest trash can. As I stepped overtop one row of stands to the next one down, something happened.

Regular Guy’s Afternoon Off

Posted inBaltimore, Baseball, Columns

I think everyone has wanted their own Ferris Bueller moment. You know, the day when you simply throw all your cares away and grab life by the scruff of the neck instead of going through your daily business.

That didn’t happen last week, but I did indulge myself in some of the movie character’s shenanigans. I went to a noon-time baseball game down in Baltimore.

The whole escapade bore little resemblance to what you see in the movies. I arranged for the afternoon off well in advance, I didn’t go with any friends, and I certainly did not tool around in a priceless sports car on my way to Oriole Park.

I didn’t even catch a foul ball.

But I did enjoy a warm, sunny day, eat a couple of hot dogs and savor an adult beverage. I also ran into two old friends and caught up with them.

That beats a day of work in my book.

Pilot Season Comes to Amazon

Posted inTV
As the landscape of television continues to change, Amazon has decided to jump in with a unique experiment - Pilot Season. Everyone who goes to the site now has access…