Valentine’s Day: From Freedom to Love

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Three years ago, on Valentine’s Day, I walked into a courthouse and filed the final paperwork for my divorce. Yeah, I did that on purpose. For years, Valentine’s Day, like most “special” days of the year, was just another reminder of stress, tension, and trying (and failing) to meet the expectations of someone who could never be satisfied. No matter what I did, it wasn’t enough. So, when it was time to make my divorce official, I decided to take the day back. Instead of letting it be a reminder of exhaustion and disappointment, I marked it as Freedom Day, a personal milestone of breaking free from something that had drained me for far too long.

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Holidays, family, and changes ahead

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Christmas with my sons Kirkpatrick and William, and Katie (William’s GF)

On this Christmas Day, as 2022 ends, I find myself focused on the future and not so much the past. I’m talking near-term future as so much potentially is going to change. It’s not like this year wasn’t full of change. Oh boy, was it. It’s just that what I expect to unfold in 2023 has me super excited, and I must admit, a bit unnerved. Before I get into what’s ahead in 2023, a brief retrospective seems important to set the stage.

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What I’ve been up to (to pay for my kids’ college)

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CGC-2-rawNOTE: The links below have been temporarily turned off. I plan to reactivate them later in 2021.

It’s been a long time since I have posted on this blog. I want to get back to it, but I’ve been focused on another project. I recently launched a new blog called Town’s End Comics, and its supporting social media accounts, including YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. My goal is to set up my large comic book collection to sell on eBay. Continue reading →

Yelping about a lot of stuff

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journalistBeing a journalist has always been about being fair and writing without letting my opinion into the message. Editorial writing is something I’m not comfortable with since it puts YOU out there as much as the facts and details. This blog has been my attempt to move past my reluctance, but if you read the posts here you’ll see most, if not all, of the subject matter is unique to me and my experiences. I’m really not taking any chances talking about myself, in other words.

In addition to that, I have been suffering through a period of forced social silence. I have been keeping a low profile while events and circumstances in my life settle down. That is finally happening. The big news is my family is moving back to the Seattle area and leaving NYC behind. It’s been a long five years. Continue reading →

A Slave to the Scale

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withingsDon’t be.

That’s me telling myself that. I just stepped on the bathroom scale and while I anticipated a drop of two pounds, I saw instead a gain of more than three.

I couldn’t help feel bad initially, but I quickly ran through this list of achievements:

1) I’m comfortably wearing size 33×34 jeans, which is one size better than when I wrote this: “When your waist is equal to or less than your inseam.”.

3) I enjoyed a huge fajita last night that was made mostly of veggies.  And damn it was satisfying to eat, but it is probably sitting like a 2-pound rock in my gut right now.

4) I have lost 30 lbs. since last October. *mic drop*

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When your waist is equal to or less than your inseam

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IMG_0775 (1)If you never wished for equality or better between waist and inseam measurements than you probably won’t get much out of this post. This has been my holy grail for decades. It’s a milestone I’ve reached on a few occasions and I’m grateful now is one of them.

I fit very nicely into a pair of 34W x 34L Lucky Brand Men’s 361 Vintage Straight Leg Jeans. (See Amazon’s listing here.) I slipped them on for the first time today after buying them over a month ago. Now I’m not falling victim to vanity sizing. (See Esquire’s expose “Are Your Pants Lying to You? An Investigation.”)

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Haunted by bullying

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at-11Would you believe I’m being bullied? Me. Now.

I’m decades past being that fat kid with the big smile pictured on the left, but it happened. And I figure if it’s happening to me – now standing six feet, six inches tall and at a very healthy weight – then I may always have to deal with it.

I know I’m overreacting. The incident that has me writing really is just a small matter. I was working out at the local gym. It’s usually pretty crowded in the free weight room. There’s usually a good mix of ages. Among them was a trio of men training together. They’re about 5 years older than me. I’ve seen them before. They’re loud and seem to always have a good time. One guy looks like a grey haired Fred Flintstone. Continue reading →

Hands-free driving and texting dumba$$

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texting and driving -- (C) Willow-Townsend ProductionsI’m no saint on the road. I’ve made my own dumb moves and paid the price. But when I saw this I experienced a visceral response.

I watched this guy pictured on the left for almost 3 minutes. Most of the time he had both hands on the phone, with the occasional grab at the wheel. This happened at the start of the evening rush hour on the I-5 southbound on-ramp in South Lake Union, Seattle. I was recording with my iPhone while riding in a shuttle bus leaving the city during a visit.

Watch the video:

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