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. …

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. …

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…