Category: Uncategorized

(photo credit: The Moving World Scott Pfeiffer) I watched 2013's Whiplash earlier this month and I've been thinking about it ever since. Evidence of a solid flick. Gets inside the head and doesn't stop moving around. Why is this film captivating? Why am I still thinking about it? Do I identify with this film because I'm … Continue reading Whiplash →

I’m tucked away in my basement, penning this missive, while outside the temperatures continue to fall. Today is the coldest day it’s been this winter in Minnesota thus far, with a high of zero and a low of seventeen below. Days like today, it’s unadvisable to go outside. Every breath feels like your lungs are … Continue reading Vikings Lose, Packers Win, and Subzero Reigns Supreme: An account of hithers and thithers →

Greetings and Happy New Year! How was your evening? Did things get a bit crazy? My evening sure did. I ate way more than I should have, which in all honesty has been a recurring theme for me this holiday season. We bought a bunch of appetizer type food: chicken bites, cheese sticks, jalapeno poppers, … Continue reading Happy New Year 2016 →

Since starting a family my attitude toward Christmas and the holidays has changed. In my younger days, as an embittered man in my early 20’s, I railed against the holiday season, whining of corporate greed and commercialism and the injustices suffered by pagans at the hands of early Christians co-opting a solstice for their own … Continue reading Holiday Tunes →

(photo from vulture.com) Last night I traveled with my brother-in-law and father-in-law down to the tiny Sturgeon Bay movie theater to catch the 6:15 showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The diminutive cinema house was already filling quickly when we arrived and as my FIL purchased the tickets (many thanks!) my BIL and I … Continue reading The Star Wars →

In the last five years, on approximately four separate occasions, I’ve been asked in total earnestness by both family members and colleagues, “Why isn’t there a national, average, tax-paying, white guy day?” The authors of this question are positing this notion in response to attempts throughout the United States to be more diverse, to shine … Continue reading Average White Guy (AWG) →

With the release of Creed this holiday season, one podcast I listen to on a regular basis, Fatman on Batman with Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin, has plugged and lauded the film on a regular basis. The two hosts have discussed the merits of the film as a stand-alone picture, but also how well it … Continue reading “She Fills Gaps” →

It’s a late fall evening and I’ve just returned from my weekly Wednesday night sojourn to Minneapolis for the Minneapolis Writer’s Workshop. I first caught wind of this workshop while googling local writing groups. I needed to find a writing group, because up until now I’ve bombarded family, friends, and colleagues with samples of my … Continue reading Writing Workshops and NaNoWriMo 2015 →

I know that I should probably be walking my dog twice each day. He’s a 70+ pound, lab mutt, with high anxiety and copious amounts of energy to burn. Unfortunately, I don’t always get him two walks a day. I wake up at quarter after five to get ready for work. I know that I … Continue reading Wolf in Disguise →