Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa — It hung in the second bedroom of my grandparents’ house. That’s where I would sleep when I visited. There were two twin beds against the wall in there, and Grandma would put a chair next to my bed, apparently to protect me from falling onto the floor if I rolled…

And how to turn that around — Recently, I had the displeasure of spending the evening with a person who was boring as hell. After an hour or so I wanted to chew my arm off to get the heck out of there. And this wasn’t the first time I’ve found myself with someone who bores the…

The first of many, I hope — Memento mori. Yep, that’s what I got tattooed on my arm today. Oh trust me, I gave this a lot of thought, and made the appointment months ago. So there was plenty of time to chicken out. But I didn’t. Because this is important. I mentioned my plan to a…

Even though I know it’s inevitable — As we get older, more people die. It’s just the way it is. It’s sad and sometimes awful, but after a proper mourning period we move on — or I should say, the sadness dissipates. The subject is an important one, and most people don’t like talking about it. Death…

It’s a good thing — When I was in fifth grade I wrote an essay about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I aspired to be a photographer — for National Geographic, specifically. Even then I knew it was a lofty goal, so I added “but I will probably end up taking…

And other household horrors — It seems like a long time ago, early 2020. Like most people, I was stuck at home. Now I’m not complaining or anything — since I’m a solid introvert, and in a guilty survivor’s kind of way, I was loving life. But it was weird not working 24/7. Yeah, all…

And it’s going to be the best one yet — Last week I had dinner with a friend who is turning 60 next month. My 60th birthday is a couple months after his. I told him that I hope to have 20 more good years — I mean, 80 is a pretty good run, no? Of course, I could drop…

But turns out to be the best thing ever — Recently, I flew my city-dwelling self to Colorado where I was going to visit a friend. I was looking forward to seeing this beautiful state, since I had never been there for any extended period. Part of the festivities included a trip to Crested Butte with my friend’s brand new…

And other fun stuff — A lot of planning went into this. I scheduled a trip out west around the new moon — when the sky is the darkest — with the intention of capturing the Milky Way. Beginning weeks beforehand, I researched what equipment I needed, and how to take the photos. First, I…