This one time…

Back in the olden days of making mixtapes on an analog 4-track, a Pioneer CDJ-1000 rented from an audio store for the weekend, and a handful of CD-Rs, I set about making a mixtape of all love and love-related songs. I wanted something extra to add to it, so I searched around the internet for […]

My funny time zone story.

So, we’re traveling west, making stops along the way. One of those stops was in North Platte, Nebraska. Cute little town. Anyway, we got up and hit the road at exactly 9:00 am, which was kind of early for us. We got on the Interstate and drove for about 75 miles before we needed to […]

Punch’d.

Violence is never the answer. But still, violence happens each and every day, for a number of reasons. I’ve never been one to advocate violence and will usually turn the other cheek, mostly because I float like a bee and sting like a butterfly, but that’s besides the point. Chris Rock (ironically enough) said in […]

Tinnitus.

Bells ring; drums, ring; hell, even freedom rings.This is not a ring.More akin to a whistley whine.Or a whiny whistle? That never stops.It’s not a pulsating, or a sireny whine;It’s one, single, unbroken note,Like a dead guy slumped over his car horn. That’s always there.I can’t ever not hear it.Even when I’m not listening to […]

My Amtrak Writing Retreat: Who and where am I?

Day three of the retreat got off to a rocky, rumbly start. The train was shaking so damn much, I had no choice but to give up trying to sleep at around 6:00 a.m. Central time (I think). All meals in the dining car are included when you book a sleeper car compartment. Still, I […]

My Amtrak Writing Retreat: It continues.

So, I bedded down pretty soon after dinner, as I had been up since 3:30 that morning. I slept about as well as one could sleep on a moving train. I vaguely remembered waking up and looking out the window as the train pulled into Cleveland, Ohio in the middle of the night. Oh–forgot to […]

#Amwriting. #Amediting. #Amtrak.

I am just a few days away from departing on a 10-day vacation, riding a train coast to coast and back again, during which time I hope to get a lot of my writing projects finished, polished, and ready for submission. I’ve put together my own writing residency, after the folks at Amtrak decided to […]

A Love Letter to Maryland.

I grew up in Washington, DC. I went to college in Los Angeles, CA. I’ve spent my last 16 years in and around Minneapolis, MN. I like to refer to myself as “tri-coastal.” I’ve experienced Eastern, Pacific, and Central Standard Time, and I gotta say, I like Central the best. I’ve really grown accustomed to […]

A quick, fun read: My first self-published novella.

I have a number of projects that I’m almost ready to unleash upon the world. Until then, keep your eyes warm with this oldie-and-a-goodie, a fictional tale about college kids and young love. HERx2: The Isosceles Conundrum is available for e-reading on your favorite devices. Do the thing.

Ronnie, Joey, Donnie: All Singers Matter.

(Never read YouTube comments. Form your own opinion.) Back when I was a wee lad of about twelve or thirteen, I and a few of my friends from the neighborhood, were sitting in my living room, trying our best to copy the hit song “Jealous Girl” by New Edition. When we got to the breakdown […]