All articles filed in Writing

Yesterday was a trip to the New York State Fair – this time, to claim my six prints (four of which were accepted, two of which claimed ribbons) and my latched hook rug (which also claimed a first place silk). Once again, a successful run in Syracuse, and this time – for the first time…

This happened last week during my trivia hosting stint. As I set up my equipment for the weekly trivia contest, a young couple arrived. They ordered food from a server, and picked up one of the trivia scoring booklets for the game. This was at ten minutes to 6:00. A little early, but I can…

It’s August 25, 2009, and I’m migrating my independent blog from a self-hosting site with a blogspot.com suffix to the main blogfarm of the Albany Times Union’s media center. And in that move, I asked the blogfarm operator, Mike Huber, how often I should blog for the site. He said about once a day is…

If you’ve followed the recent drama involving the local Italian pizzeria A Taste of Italy, you know that they stepped in deep doo-doo and their only way to get out of it is to step in more doo-doo. Rewind. A bigoted, racist, Islamophobic post after the death of a young boy, Harbe Nagi, was released…

I hosted my Wednesday night trivia game at the Van Patten Golf Course in Clifton Park last night. Seven teams competing, with the winning team actually comprised of Shen high school alumni returning for their reunion. Fun night. On the way home, I thought I’d stop at Stewart’s and pick up a quick bite. There’s…

Cheryl Bentyne was the lead soprano on the jazz-rock vocal harmony quartet Manhattan Transfer, arguably one of the greatest singing combos of the last few generations. Her group and solo work has earned her ten Grammy Awards, a wall of gold and platinum record awards, and worldwide acclaim. And now, after Manhattan Transfer completed its…

A Taste of Italy is a local pizza restaurant that, of late, has served more “foot in mouth” than pepperoni. As I previously posted, their racist comments that were left about the accidental drowning of a 7-year-old autistic boy’s drowning – a post that excoriated the boy’s Islam faith – drew scorn and protests around…

The Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” steam locomotive is now on its way back to the West Coast. It traveled to Pennsylvania and arrived in Philadelphia just in time for America’s 250th birthday, and now it returns home. And along the way, people want to catch a glimpse or a photo of the train in…