Items of local interest to the four-state area (Western Md, Southern PA, Northern VA, and Eastern WV).
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…
Only two weeks left, folks, and all over the four-state region, it really is starting to look and feel like the holidays have arrived. There’s even snow in the forecast for this week (poo-poo to you winter haters – I say bring on the holiday fluff!) Ever since I was a wee lad, one of my favorite holiday traditions was to drive (or ride) around and look at all of the houses that really went out of their way to…
I was forced into town this past weekend to pick up the final touches to complete my Christmas shopping for this year. While I bought most of my gifts online (an absolute joy at this time of year), there were some stocking stuffers and other knick-knacks that had me out and about among the masses to complete my Christmas lists. And oh, what masses there were. The parking lots were full, the mall was crowded, and I had to wait…
Let’s face it, 2020 has been depressing. The only glimmer of hope we have left before this god-awful year gets put behind us is the Christmas holidays. Yes, now that Thanksgiving has passed us by, I’m totally into the holly-jolly mood of the season. Normally, we only put up our tree on the day after Thanksgiving and the rest of the house decorations come sprinkling in over the coming days. Not this year. Like some Hollywood production, it all went…
Apparently, I shouldn’t have raised a hand against the year 2020, else – like a woman scorned, she hammers back with a vengeance. I should probably explain. Last week, I wrote a brief article on how 2020 basically sucked in a number of ways, but the fickle hands of fate must have read my blog and thought “who is this clown?” and “how may I now reap misfortune upon him?” Let me give you a brief summary of my past…
To say that I’m completely over 2020 by now is an understatement. What a year. The pandemic rages on (yet people where I live still refuse to wear masks because – you know – ‘Murica). My kids are attempting to get through their 2nd years of college and senior year of high school at home by staring at a screen all day. We’re shopping around for colleges (for my youngest) that may (or may not) be holding classes next fall,…