My list of favorite Christmas songs, ready already

Walking into the Destiny USA entrance yesterday to see “About Time” for my weekly Syracuse New Times blog movie review, I was pretty certain the song greeted me with the line, “It’s Christmas at the mall.” My dear wife Karen assured me it was “it’s Christmas after all.” I am sure that halfway up the…

Neutral, no way. I had to cheer for my alma mater over my hometown team

When it came down to one lineman pushing and another shoving, my loyalty came through Saturday afternoon as dear wife Karen and I sat at the bar at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill in Destiny USA watching my alma mater and my hometown squad tussle on the football field. The prior game…

Love and loyalty play out on the football field

Tuition checks trump season-ticket checks. Today comes the football game I have been anticipating for more than two calendar years. Ever since it was revealed in September 2011 that Syracuse University would be leaving the Big East to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, I have metaphorically and mentally drawn a big, red circle around the…

Syracuse awakens to a blanket of snow on the morning Santa will arrive at the mall

‘Tis the season in Syracuse, N.Y. I opened my eyes this morning to our first snow, bright white on a gray day. It’s sticking stubbornly on the lawn, not melting away a bit, just two days after I played golf while wearing shorts. Somebody up there knows something. Santa Claus is coming to town today,…

On Nov. 6, it was golf weather in Syracuse

My last wish for golf season 2013 was granted Tuesday. I got to play one more round of golf in Syracuse, N.Y., before the cold and snow settle in for good. The day broke with the weather forecasters promising temperatures in the 60s, with sun until sometime in the afternoon. I sent the text messages…

The stuff of a life gets put out to the curb

The first day that Ellie B and I passed the grass in front to the apartment house in our Syracuse city neighborhood, I had to pull our dear Dogamous Pyle and her ever-curious nose away from the stack of belongings. There were a couple of mattresses. Garbage bags packed with assorted clothing. And three TVs.…

Have you seen your Bitstrips self yet?

My dear wife Karen was focusing so very intently on the screen of her iPhone. Push this and ponder. Swipe that and wonder. Then she gave at least half of her attention to me on the recliner. Look at me, look at the phone. Look at me, look at the phone. Click. Touch. We have…

The ACC makes it sportsmanship week, but will our athletes ever play nice?

It’s “Sportsmanship Week in the ACC,” the announcer intoned, explaining to those of us wondering just why the players from these two college football teams were standing wide, almost end zone-to-end zone, facing each other quite near the center of the field and ready to take those last couple of strides to shake hands. All…

A recipe for Polish kielbasa and pierogi, because my name is Bialczak

These last nine months I’ve been admiring those gorgeous pictures posted by the food bloggers of the world. I may have indeed raised my iPad up to my nose to imagine what the dish smelled like. Don’t tell anyone, please. Never, though, do I pay as much attention to the accompanying recipes. My dear wife…

The clock changes but do you?

At 2 a.m., most of us folks in the U.S. return to Standard Time. You know what they say: spring ahead, fall back. That was the mantra to help us all back in the day when you actually had to run around the house and change the time by twisting a knob or pushing a…