Stop the Madness

Posted inColumns, Food

Sometimes, I don’t know what to make of what goes on in this crazy world of ours. Things just keep heading in the wrong direction.

This has nothing to do with the economy or pig flu or anything like that. I’m talking about chicken here.

Did you hear that KFC has come out with a new ad campaign? They have a new product and want everyone to know about it.

They don’t just want you to know about their new chicken, they want you to know that it’s good for you. Yep, they are advertising Kentucky Grilled Chicken.

I don’t know how to process that information, especially when they have an ad campaign built around the word “unthink.”

Keep Your Ear Open

Posted inColumns

I don’t know how I ended up as an eavesdropper. Maybe growing up with seven older siblings who liked to keep secrets from me had something to do with it.

Some of my earliest memories come from receiving bribes to sneak into our living room to spy on my oldest sister and her boyfriend. I think I got a quarter for each recon mission I undertook.

She ended up marrying him so maybe I didn’t do as much damage as the rest of the family hoped. Who knows?

Because I’m a big wimp, I never turned this skill into something really cool. I had no intention of becoming a spy or anything like that.

I did use the skill as a reporter, but that doesn’t really impress everyone. So now I just entertain myself with my ability to home in on a funny conversation somewhere around me.

That’s exactly how I entertained myself on a recent errand. I didn’t feel the greatest, and I had to drop Bridget off at one of her activities. Maria asked me if I would get her some ice cream from our favorite place for cold treats.

Saving the Children

Posted inColumns, Video Games

I feel like I have saved the youth of Hanover single-handedly. All it took was a trip to the library.

Everything started when I read an item in the newspaper. The library wanted to expand their collection and put out a call for used video games.

A small stack of those just happen to sit in my basement at the time. I had tried to sell them on eBay, but came up empty. That bummed me out because I had raised a little extra spending cash that way in the past.

I wouldn’t get a ton of money when I sold things like video games online, but I would always enjoy making five or 10 bucks off of something I didn’t need anymore.

I don’t buy a ton of video games, but I do have a few favorites. That means I like to get the new version every year. I have also bought a few on sale and received a few as presents.

Now that I really didn’t need a bunch, I really enjoyed the opportunity to donate them so maybe some kid could get some enjoyment out of them.

Before I gave them to my wife to drop off – you didn’t really expect me to take them to the library myself, did you? – I stood there with the games in my hand. One feeling came over me.

Jealousy.

ITEOTWAWKI: Eating Crow

Posted inUncategorized
OK, the last time I did one of these updates, I expressed disappointment that the re-release of "Reckoning" would be paired with a disc from the Dublin rehearsals prior to…

‘Scrubs’ Coming Back?

Posted inScrubs, TV
This time, the President has overstepped his boundries. I have put up with a couple of prime-time press conferences, mainly because they did not conflict with anything I watched. Now,…

Rocking the Red

Posted inHockey, Sports
The irony of my interest in tonight's NHL playoff Game 7 between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers is that the Rangers got me interested in the sport, but…

New Sport Has a Kick

Posted inColumns, Freelance Writing, MMA, Sports, Wrestling

I didn’t have any plans a couple of Sundays ago. We planned on having some friends over the Saturday before to grill and hang out, so I assumed I would spend the next day napping and watching sports.

Then I got a fateful phone call.

Well, it wasn’t fateful, but it was intriguing. The fine folks over at the York Daily Record wanted me to come out and cover an event for the paper.

Sure, I said. A little freelance money never hurt anyone. Plus, I could take part in a little bit of history.

They wanted me to cover the state’s first legal mixed martial arts event. I was going to get paid to see guys beat the snot out of each other. I love this country.

How Will We Survive?

Posted inColumns, Movies

Have you heard the news? I cannot believe this is happening. The world is surely getting closer to the end.

A pirated copy of the Wolverine movie has ended up on the Internet. Tragic, huh?

I hadn’t heard of this when I wrote my column a few weeks ago on “spoilers.” I think I need to re-assess my point of view if people are going beyond just talking about things and going directly to releasing them to the public early.

Who cares about the housing crisis or pirates in Africa when movies are available on the Internet before they hit the theater? Especially when they are some comic book movie. People have gone too far this time.

Back to School

Posted inColumns

I really enjoyed my final few months as a college student. Allegheny College, where I attended, operated on a trimester system at that time. That meant that we had three sessions of 10 weeks. Each time, we took three classes.

Thanks to some AP credits from high school, I had enough credits after the second trimester of my senior year to graduate. The thought of leaving early, however, never crossed my mind.

Sure, I wanted to enjoy my social life a little, but I made sure to have an enjoyable classroom experience as well.

I managed to schedule two classes back to back in the afternoon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I didn’t have to wake up before noon, and I had one of my favorite professors for both classes.

He wanted to spend Friday afternoon in the classroom about as much as we did, so he extended the class time for the later session on the other two days so we didn’t need Friday afternoon at all. The earlier class met as usual.

So I had an all-afternoon schedule, got out early on Fridays and studied two really enjoyable topics. What a great memory.

All of this comes to mind because, almost 20 years later, I have made the decision to return to the classroom. I have a funny feeling things won’t be the same in graduate school.

If all goes well, I will enter a master’s degree in writing program in the fall. I’m sure some readers will enjoy knowing that I am finally going to learn how to write. It’s about time, I think.