Melinda decides Santa Barbara’s call needs to be answered

For so many years, the smiling face and wise words of Melinda helped me through my days at the big daily. We investigated and co-wrote big projects together. She knew her fine arts. More than that, she’s wise in the ways of journalism. Best of all, Melinda is a smart friend about what’s right and…

My swing at the 6-word challenge is borderline

I was scrolling through my Twitter feed the other day, and a six-word challenge from writer.ly hit me over the head like a two-by-four. I had to take a crack at the topic: Crossing the border. Because something non-fiction came to my mind. Not the type of border crossing that most people would think of…

Quietly following Fred Funk

It’s been, oh, a quarter-century now that I’ve had the pleasure of following a guy I share an alma mater with around the hills of Endicott, N.Y. No, I’m not stalking pro golfer Fred Funk. But once again I was able to send an email to my friends that host Fred when he plays in…

Screen gem presentation

I floated the idea right here just a few days ago. It was a dream, really, that notion that it was time to trade in my iPad Air 2 for the iPad Logic 12-inch model. You can pretty much guess what I’m using to compose this blog post this wonderful Saturday afternoon, can’t you? It…

This Week

It has been a difficult week here in the United States of America. I am not surprised that my usual Sunday guest columnist, Paul Curran, wants to write about the shootings in the country south of his Canadian border. He points to at least some of the unrest and worse as tied to to our…

From soap to nuts, we find it at the Regional Market

I can’t quite believe it took us until July to make it to Syracuse’s bustling Saturday Regional Market this year. At least it was the start of July. My dear wife Karen and I took off early from the Little Bitty the first day of the Fourth of July Weekend to walk the sheds and…

Dogamous Pyle escapes into a pickle

I felt the iPhone 6 vibrate in my pocket as I talked to my boss Diane at the Liverpool Public Library. Once, twice, three times it rang. I ignored it, figuring I’d look to see the number come quitting time and discover yet another listing of one of the folks you don’t call back because…

A new iPad for Karen gets me thinking

My dear wife Karen went out during her week off and bought herself a new iPad. I surely applaud the move. She’d been working with the hand-me-down gifted from my first iPad Air for almost two years now, and I had the beautiful piece of gadgetry for almost three years before I got the iPad…

The big yard’s looking unique

I had to take an early summer checkup on the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood yard that my dear wife Karen and I admire so much for the roses. Yes, the double-wide plot around the block from the Little Bitty looked good during a recent walk with Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle. It’s not just…