In January 1982, my brother Kevin took me to my first rock concert. Ostensibly. we went to the Cap Centre in Landover, Md., to see The Police, but the opening act made a much greater impression on me. After all,…

Sometimes I let my passions get the best of my better judgment. That’s my explanation for how “The Pig Did It” by Joseph Caldwell ended up on my stack of books. I love Ireland. My family originally emigrated from there…

I had a dream. I dreamt I could order piece of a computer on the Internet and easily build my own machine. My family would live in a land of speed and magic. That’s what I thought three months ago…

As it happens sometimes in my family, we have a very busy summer ahead without even really trying. A couple of graduations, a wedding, the annual beach trip. It all adds up pretty quickly. Which means we have to find…

I try to maintain a happy attitude most of the time. That proves to be difficult sometimes, but I manage to generally stay positive. Carrying a good mood around on a Friday really isn’t that hard, but it’s much easier…

Twenty-five years ago, I wanted to move on more than anything. I had just a few weeks before I graduated high school and looked forward to the next challenge in life. I can’t say that I had a horrible time…

No, I’m not frequenting sketchy massage parlors. I simply have added a new television show to my weekly mix. “Happy Endings” premiered a month or so ago on ABC and has started to run through two episodes a week on…

I first truly discovered R.E.M. through “Life’s Rich Pageant,” the band’s fourth album. I bought a cassette over Christmas break from college in the summer of 1987, almost a year after it was released. I had heard some of the…

I remember coming home one day as a teenager to a deafening roar inside the house. Puzzled, I walked into the kitchen to find my mother, basically nonplussed by the noise. I looked at her quizzically. “Your father has a…