A New Discovery

Posted inColumns, Food

I went to the store earlier in the week to buy some supplies. Maria and Bridget left me to my own devices for a few days. That means one thing – grilling.

Well, it also means video games, staying up too late, not making the bed, drinking beer, playing music louder than usual and yelling at the TV at the top of my lungs, but grilling might be my favorite part.

When they are away, I can take my time cooking and try a few new things. That’s why I couldn’t resist buying Buffalo chicken sausage when I saw them at the grocery store the other night.

A New Pair of Shoes

Posted inColumns, Making an Idiot Out of Myself

I had everything planned out for a fun Wednesday night. My friend James would meet me at work, and we would go down to Washington to see a D.C. United soccer game.

We planned to leave at 6 p.m., which allowed me to get some extra work done without feeling like I was abandoning my family because they already knew I was abandoning them for the evening.

So I worked up until about 15 minutes before James was arriving. I went into the men’s room in my building so I could change out of my work clothes and put on shorts and my soccer jersey for the game. That’s when I came to a horrible realization.

I forgot my shoes.

Stay Within Yourself

Posted inColumns, Things I Hate

As I flipped through a newspaper at work the other day, a story caught my eye. Apparently, a group of people got together and swam across the Chesapeake Bay. “Don’t they know there’s a perfectly good bridge right there,” I said to a co-worker.

Now I know this is an annual event which raises money for charity, but I just don’t understand why someone would look at a body of water like the Chesapeake, then look at the bridge and still come to the conclusion that swimming is a good option.

My boss told me that the people – some of whom have actually taken on this task 20 times – do it for the challenge. That’s what I figured, but I told her that I thought conquering challenges like that was way overrated.

I’m not saying that I have no ambition. I do. I just think people should spend their time doing ambitious things that don’t seem so crazy.

Everybody Into the Pool

Posted inColumns

Now that school is out, my wife has a dilemma on her hands. She needs to keep an almost 7-year-old occupied all day. We have a few things planned to take care of that. We’ll go to Hersheypark one day. Bridget will go to day camp for one week. And we have our annual family beach trip.

But she’ll also hopefully start to enjoy something which kept me out of trouble and saved my mother’s sanity for many years.

The swimming pool.

Rock On, Regular Guy!

Posted inColumns, Music

I have dreams. Big dreams. I want to play the guitar. To some, that might not seem like that big of a dream. But I have pretty much no musical ability whatsoever, so playing the guitar represents a big dream for me.

With such a handicap, some might wonder why I have this dream. Well, first of all, I like a challenge. Second of all, I still have part of that 14-year-old who wants to rock living inside of me.

Top 5 Concert Songs

Posted inColumns, Music, REM

Now this is the kind of weather I can get behind. When the sun shines like this, all I can think of are care free days, drinking something cold and listening to good music. While I generally abhor columns that are lists, I couldn’t resist this time. I wish I have had more to choose from, but here are the top five songs I have ever seen in concert.

Biko, Peter Gabriel: My buddy Paul and I totally lucked out with outstanding seats for this show in 1987 at Meriweather Post Pavilion.

We Need Gladiators

Posted inAmerica, Columns, TV

You hear a lot of commentary from various sources about the social problems facing our country. People worry about the decline of the family, loosening moral values, and the loss of basic concern for others.

Critics of modern society try and point the finger at different sources. Some blame video games. Some blame the culture of celebrity. Others blame permissive parents.

I think something else has caused all the problems we face every day. I blame the people who decided to take “American Gladiators” off the air more than 10 years ago.

Greatest Mall Ever

Posted inAmerica, Columns

When I went away last weekend, I got a chance to look around the greatest mall in the world. Skymall.

Those of you who have never flown need to check this place out. If you have flown and don’t love Skymall – what is wrong with you?

Imagine sitting comfortably looking at the most incredibly cool items ever. Multiply that by 10 and you have Skymall.