One of the local myths in the Tampa Bay area is that the local Tocobaga tribe of Native Americans put a blessing upon their burial grounds, and that this blessing is what has shielded the region from a direct hurricane hit for about 100 years. As I mentioned last time, that luck might be running […]
20Oct24
Two Weeks, Two Hurricanes
8Jun24
For Those Who Once Rocked
What bands have you seen that don’t exist anymore? What bands did you miss seeing? We had a discussion at work this week about bands that we wish we could have seen. It got me thinking about what bands I could have conceivably seen during my concert-going years that I missed, as well as the […]
Another year fades into memory. This year has been a bit of a whirlwind. Sue and I spent most of the year taking Spanish classes through our local community college, so the majority of our weekends for the year were spent studying. The big news for the year is that I changed jobs, leaving the […]
Why do some companies go to such lengths to make their sites terrible to use? Shopping online for something, these are some typical experiences. I imagine the website and its designers talking to me: Be My Friend (website loads, get a brief glimpse of the site, which disappears behind a popup…) Hey! sign up for […]
4May23
Music Is My Friend
All I want is to keep on trucking, I think I could with a little bit of luck. Come too far to just get stuck, So I refuse to die. – Sydney Sprague I think many of my favorite songs are aspirational. They often describe people I wish I had in my life. Those times […]
24Dec22
2022: The Illusion of Normality
It’s been an odd year. It seems like a quiet year with fewer events than I’m used to, but then I remember that we lost a couple of years somewhere along the way. This might be the first year I see more Florida Orchestra shows than all other concerts combined, which sounds like I’m getting […]
17Jun22
Oreo
“I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones Who doesn’t love an underdog? For many years my neighborhood has had several stray cats in it. I’ve been feeding them more or less since they took care of a little problem […]
27Dec21
2021: The Eye of the Storm
“The first time it was a tragedy The second time it’s a farce Outside it’s 1933 so I’m hitting the bar” – Frank Turner, 1933 It’s been a frustrating year. The world continues to be stupid. At least things on a personal level have been going well, knock on wood. I’m thankful that we have […]
14Apr21
I’m a Pilot
I’m a Pilot. Since I was five years old I have wanted to say that. It’s not the longest-held dream I’ve had, but it’s damn close. It took me (mumble) years to get here, but I am now the very proud holder of a private pilot’s certificate. It took much longer to get here than […]
26Oct20
Write Stuff
My name is Rob, and I am addicted to fountain pens. As addictions go, this is a pretty safe one. The only damage is to my wallet and the storage space in my office. I am occasionally surprised that this became a thing for me. I’ve always had this attraction to stationary products, so I’ve […]