All articles filed in Reflection

As a kid, I enjoyed visiting the New York State Museum. At the time, the Museum had moved from its previous location at the State Education Building on Washington Avenue, and was now in a modern building. There were dioramas of life in the Adirondacks in the new building, and they were just adding exhibits…

In the end, Crash Moreau lived his life the way he always wanted. Whether it was on fire, or surviving a horrific car crash, he performed stunts and thrills for decades, at county fairs and stunt shows throughout the Northeast. Example. Here’s a video of him from 2011, at the Orange County Fair. And if…

It’s 1:30 in the morning, and I’ve been awake for the past two hours. Bad nightmare. More like a flashback than a nightmare. It was a moment from my teenage years. Approximately the spring of 1978, if we’re being reasonably accurate. At that time, I was attending school at Lisha Kill Junior High School, a…

I know there will be a ton of Father’s Day photos on Facebook today. Many of my Facebook friends will either celebrate their fathers (living or dead), or they’ll be in pictures with their kids. And that’s all fine and honorable. Longtime readers of my blog will know that for me, Father’s Day is a…

Even though the words were written two years ago on someone else’s social media account, I knew who they were aimed at. And they stung like barbed wire. This is what they said. “Some people like to write blogs. They even make it the most important thing in their lives. You read what they say…

It took a very, very long time for me to appreciate Chinese food. At least to the point where I can go into a Chinese restaurant and order something without worry. That initial distrust of Chinese food came thanks to my stepfather. I shall explain. At one point in time, mostly between 1971 and 1973,…

In another week, I’ll receive my second Pfizer vaccine, and after that, I’ll feel more comfortable about going out and taking lots of photographs and the like. But for the past year, COVID-19 has been trapped on my psyche, essentially commandeering my life. Of course it has. I don’t want to catch COVID-19. And I…

Several years ago, after many attempts of trying and trying and trying again to find that right person after my 2011 divorce, I closed my online dating account and deleted my profile from it.  There was no reason to continue participating.  I was totally convinced that online dating services only existed to raise my hopes…

Long-time readers of my blog will recall my original post about The Chestnut Prison. From July to November of 1978, because I could not live with my emotionally abusive and toxic parents – my mother and stepfather – I chose to move to Abington, Massachusetts, and live with my father and his wife (and his…