Little Black Fly

I’ve been having a hard time connecting with my daughter lately. She’s two and she’s been sick on and off for the last two weeks and she hasn’t exactly been the most pleasant person to be around. I say that as an observation not as a judgment. It’s not her fault. She might be thinking the same thing about me. Still it’s difficult to take sometimes when she seems to not want to be with me and she’s ask Read More...

This One’s for All the Bouncers

Big. Big. Monkey Man! And as soon as I start skanking the first chord, my kids instantly recognize the song. They start singing before the lyrics are supposed to begin because they’re only little kids and they have no sense of musical timing—yet. But they know the lyrics, because they’re nonsense lyrics, and they can relate to them. And so they start spouting off at different times and in different keys: Aye, Read More...

A Morning Without the Computer

Our computer is almost never turned off. There it sits on the dining room buffet with its white pulsing light and its quiet hum. It is always there for us when we need it. And when we don’t. It is a laptop and is always accessible. Checking email, browsing the Internet or looking through old photos can be done anywhere in the house at anytime of the day or night. That is the beauty of technology. And the beast. I Read More...

Daddy Is a Hero

I’m not a hero. A hero regularly does spectacular things that others cannot do. I’ve never done anything spectacular. I’ve never found a cure for a disease. I’ve never saved someone from danger. I’ve never invented an everyday necessity. I’ve never done anything that has elevated me to the status of hero. I do the same ordinary things that a million other people do every day of their lives. But Daddy, Read More...