Items of local interest to the four-state area (Western Md, Southern PA, Northern VA, and Eastern WV).
So after what will probably go down in history as one of the worst years on record (so far), 2020 is well behind us and the 2nd half of 2021 is starting to look better, thanks in large part to the availability and distribution of the three, large-scale COVID vaccines. As we look forward to brighter days, it’s important to look back on what we’ve experienced, analyze it, and see if we’ve learned anything from it. I won’t say we…
After a long, cold winter of such strenuous projects as reading, working on my Duolingo Spanish (a third attempt), exhausting my Hulu and Netflix video library, and playing with LEGOs, I forced myself upon a set of bathroom scales the other day and also found out that I’ve apparently been eating and snacking like a prisoner on death row. The scale settled in on numbers that made me swear out loud when I read the final tally, but I then…
What is this? He’s gonna talk about taxes? Well, yes – but let me explain. While I hate tax season just as much as the next person, I understand that they are a “necessary evil”. Taxes pay for lots of services and infrastructure that we take for granted on a day-to-day basis, such as fire and police protection, roads, and education (to name just a few). Now, I’m not going to sit here and debate about what is “good” or…
Ahhhh, spring! You’re just around the corner. Warm days, flowers in bloom, chirping birds – I do love the change of seasons. It’s also time for the annual spring catalog from Oriental Trading Company, who will readily provide all of your Easter trinket and tchotchke needs (they even have a “happiness guarantee”). If you need to find something weird that crosses the boundaries between commercial celebrations and religion this holiday season, Oriental Trading is for you. Every year, these folks…
This year for Valentine’s Day, my wife and I had a small dinner party (calm down, COVID enthusiasts, there were only six of us, and we’ve all recently been tested). Three couples, a nice dinner in our home, and some after-dinner games and conversation – all very simple, yet we had a marvelous time. I was thinking today that this used to be a common thing (and I mean decades ago, not merely since the pandemic made everyone a prisoner…
Let me just start this week by saying that I like dogs. I like pets in general, as a matter of fact (and I’ve got a screaming, half-blind, deaf, mangy, 21-year old cat to prove it). “Man’s best friend” and all of that? I get it. Dogs are great companions and a fine addition to any family (so ease up on that potential hate-mail). Here’s the thing, though. I choose NOT to have one. Contrary to popular belief (and the…
So with my youngest daughter making her collegiate commitment to the University of Alabama this past week (sorry, Maryland Terrapins, but you snooze – you lose), I’ve found that I am now part of a parent guild and collegiate fan base that quite frankly shocks and scares me a little. Let’s just start with the following that the school cultivates. To say that the parents and fans of the university are fanatical (almost bordering on cult-like) is an understatement. Don’t…
Like many of you, I have had my share of boring days and evenings during the pandemic. Nowhere to really go, lots of household projects that I really don’t want to get started, and it seems like I’ve pretty much exhausted all of the choices that peak my interest on Netflix, Hulu, AND Disney+ (hard to believe, I know). So, I find myself bringing up YouTube on my laptop and going down multiple weird alleyways and corridors of videos. One…
Well hello, 2021! It’s a new year and time for my annual attempt at a “restart” on some of my many annual resolutions. I say “restart”, because – as always – it’s the same list I start on every January 1st (and unfortunately – eventually fail at). I should really call these the new year’s endurance trials, because like any test of will, it’s usually a struggle to see how long many of these will last. Oh, I’m hell out…
As I sit here all snug and cozy in my living room, a landscape of white outside from the recent snow – the Christmas lights illuminating the room while Bing Crosby croons in the background, I am overwhelmed with the festivity of the season. My youngest and her friends are baking cookies and laughing in the kitchen, I am sipping a warm, mulled wine with my wife, and my 20-year old cat (bless her soul) is actually curled up next…