Come out and play

Winter held on. Spring was sleepy. The Robinson flowering crabapple in the front yard of our home in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood shook all that off and made its grand entrance, as far as I’m concerned, this very morning. Hello to summer two, you hardy and hearty blooming beauty.

So you think you can be funny and smart on the spot, do you?

Join the improv writing feature that Don Charisma is hosting, Chris Malone urged me back in January, you’ll like it. I did, and I did. Assigned a topic merely called “The swimming gorilla,” I wrote a piece about not really knowing how to swim, this whole entire life of mine. Soon after, from kindly blogger…

These ‘Neighbors’ didn’t have to get this nasty

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Zac Efron’s frat boy character is goofing on Seth Rogen’s married guy character even though think-I’m-still-cool clueless man doesn’t really realize it as he gulps down mushrooms and compares favorite movie Batman leads. There’s a likable cross-generational chemistry going on pretty quick. But then things in this budding relationship go…

It’s time to return to the lake with happy dog Ellie B

Summer arrived in Syracuse this weekend. Warmth. Sunshine. My dear wife Karen was feeling a little under the weather Saturday, remnants of a late spring head cold still kicking her sinuses pretty good. I hooked the Gentle Leader around Ellie B, aka Dogamous Pyle’s nose, attached her short blue leash, and coaxed her up into…

A dirty job no matter how you look at it

Four plants now are ready to sprout in the new section of our hourglass front-yard garden in our Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, the portion I dug out last fall. My dear wife Karen and I teamed this glorious and sunny Sunday to dig in the dirt. I used a spade to make holes for…

I wish I would have met Caroline, my dear wife Karen’s mother

I sat in the living room of Aunt Pauline’s house out there in Van Nuys years ago, happily in the middle of a California history tour with the woman who’d yet to become my dear wife Karen. A picture on the TV caught my eye, a framed shot of Aunt Pauline’s sister. I walked over…

Lesson learned

The students from the middle school in Utica picked their spots carefully on the floor on a high story in the refurbished building on the west side of Syracuse that houses the offices, studios, everything that makes public television station WCNY. It was the start of the program called Enterprise America. Mrs. Straub announced herself…

A summery round and some quick brown fox

It took until our third round of 2014 for the golfing adventures of KP, Tater and myself to really warm up. Yes, I did say Tater. When we opened the season at Westvale, and when we same three took the traveling amateur show to Foxfire, I brought to you pictures and comments about myself, KP…

Bernie may live in Richard’s garage

Wait until you hear who the Bernie and Jack are that I’m talking about in the headline. Combing the web for odd and/or interesting news about movieland for the weekly Thursday edition of my Syracuse New Times blog, I discovered on cinemablend.com that famous film-maker Richard Linklater went to court to vouch for convicted murderer…

The kids from across the street

Remember the family that always seemed to be there when you were growing up, the troop that had somebody who pretty much matched up in age to somebody in your own tribe? Chances are good that your mothers hung out. Dolores Bialczak and Kitty Dorazio were quite pleased that their combined seven offspring were growing…