This week I’m trying something new. Here’s a short(ish) story I wrote. I think of these types of scenarios all the time, big what-ifs. I then torture my wife with it to see if it’s sufficiently interesting. She’s out of town; maybe I should have waited. Enjoy.
To a shampoo bottle sitting idle – a poem
As someone who suffers alopecia areata I’m somewhat ambivalent about hair. While showering yesterday, rubbing bar soap on my skull, I peered into the alcove and spied my abandoned shampoo bottle. Having recently enjoyed a long stint with hair, I didn’t have the heart to toss it yet.
Time Travel Will Kill You – Probably
Don’t get me wrong; I love time travel. It’s my single most favorite form of science fiction, right next to multiverse stories. I’m fascinated with the idea of being witness to the past, or finding out how we fare in the future. But as much as I indulge myself and feast on the tasty morsels of Back […]
The Thing About DNA
Robert Heinlein espoused the belief that our genes belong to the entire human race, not just to ourselves. It’s true and I’ll tell you why. Our genes are a gift to us from someone else. We in turn give them to another, proof our genes aren’t really ours in the classical sense. We’re merely the […]
The Thing About Memories
Memory and remembering are fragile things, easily broken. I found this collection of TED talks best explained how our memory isn’t as perfect as we believe and how what we think of as memory might be more about experience. TED Radio Hour: Memory Games
What’s old is new again
In the quest for the identity of my grandfather I’ve been using a service called Genealogy Bank. It’s a service filled with old, scanned newspapers from across the world. An astoundingly useful tool for genealogists, it makes it possible to search for your more infamous relatives. It’s also a fascinating view into the culture and […]
Object Impermanence
Nothing lasts forever and everything fades away. The sun and the wind and the rain will eat away everything on this world, molecule by molecule, until it merges with the sky and the ground. Over the subsequent millions of years the bits and pieces will combine, separate, and recombine with all matter on the planet […]
Impossible Choices
I meant to write about Casey Kasem when he passed away, but I knew I needed time to get my thoughts in order. We’re going on 10 months since my father’s death from Lewy Body and nearly 12 months since the onset of his decline. I knew from the moment they described Kasem as having Parkinsons […]
My Father’s Father Part 9 – The Lost Boy
Russell from the movie Up said it best. “Sometimes it’s the boring parts I miss the most.” I remember being lost only once, in a store, distracted by the toy aisle. I can’t remember with certainty if I panicked or if I stood frozen, waiting for Mom. I remember the cold light, the tall shelves, […]
My Father’s Father Part 8 – One More Time With Feeling
I’m wondering if this rabbit hole was too deep. My head whipped about like a windsock in a stiff breeze as I experienced it realtime. The thoughts came jumbled and in floods, often times needing weeks to put down. In my mind the narrative never unfolded sequentially and that’s why you’ve been tasked with following my tale […]