Recent Posts

a week in Munich during Oktoberfest

Sometimes a man needs to hop on a plane to attend a party with over 6 million people.  Science and psychology tell us this is the best way to spend our discretionary funds, but I’d do it even if they didn’t. The idea for last week’s trip was actually hatched […]

Clone Wars can tide us over until the next Star Wars

Know what that is?  It’s a portion of the approved leave of absence I filed with the court in which I spend the bulk of my time; I requested it in mid-August.  And the dates I picked?  My bride’s birthday (9/11) and opening day of the next “Star Wars” film.  […]

The Boy is 7

I surprised him and picked him up from “Legos club” after school; he’s never seen my car waiting in the carpool lane at his school before, so I had to get out and wave at him before he’d walk my way.  He talked all about something he built that spun […]

Pork and Persecution (with a side of Bourbon)

When I posted something about wanting folks to join me at the Atlanta BBQ festival on Facebook a couple months ago, and Doug (who lives in Ann Arbor) expressed interest in coming down, I thought for sure he was kidding.  Turns out, he wasn’t, because a few hours before the […]

You should totally shoot the ‘hooch

Nearly 20 years ago when I first moved here, I was talking to a girl named Lori who worked with me at IBM, and she asked, “Have you had a chance to ‘shoot the hooch‘ yet?” and I had no idea what that meant.  But, a few days ago, when […]

the Emerald Coast, Florida

“The Emerald Coast” is how self-proclaimed sophisticated people (or local travel agents) refer to the area of land in the Florida panhandle that touches the Gulf of Mexico.  Part of it–Panama City–is often labeled the “Redneck Riviera,” but really all of the area could pretty much earn this moniker.  It’s […]

What she misses while at the beach

The oldest child living in our house turned 9 on July 16th.  She got to get a manicure and have a sushi lunch with her mom before coming home to bake cupcakes and open a wrapped Taylor Swift CD that she has not stopped listening to ever since. Right now, […]

our first family camping experience

One of our family’s favorite weekend activities is visiting estate or moving sales in our neighborhood.  Last summer, we got a barely used tent for like $20, and it’s bothered me ever since then that we haven’t used it, so when we loaded up to visit my parents in north […]