The real payoff: Meeting Beth in person

I feel as if I’ve known Beth from I Didn’t Have My Glasses On forever. She’s been my friend in BloggyVille forever, one of the first people I met on WordPress, a writer of special note, a photographer of fine image, a person of great wit, a person fun and smart and easy to be…

A show of power by the Syracuse Chiefs on Star Wars Night

Here’s one more reason to be all-in on Star Wars even though I’m a late-joiner. The Syracuse Chiefs know how to throw a night to celebrate the funk, fun and finery of the (inter)stellar movie franchise. The Saturday night at NBT Bank Stadium my dear wife Karen, who wonderful daughter Elisabeth and tremendous significant George…

A cool greenspace in Bayberry

My outreach assignment last weekend from the Liverpool Public Library took me and my camera bag to the Bayberry neighborhood. An old friend, Mike Banks, had alerted my colleagues Laurel Griffith and Dave Witkowski when he spotted them out at a previous event that he was cooking up a big celebration from his spot at…

Lunch with the old sports department crowd

You bet I was excited to see David Elfin for lunch last week. He and I worked together in the sports department of the big daily in the mid-1980s. I was his boss, technically, the assistant sports editor to his men’s basketball beat writer. In reality, though, we’d both come up here with time spent…

A bunch of library treats for Elvis Presley week

Oh, what a sight greeted me in the break room of the Liverpool Public Library on Tuesday. A colleague is obviously a fan of the King. Tuesday marked the anniversary of the celebrated rock ‘n’ roller’s passing. He left this world in an unfortunate way on Aug. 16, 1977, way too young. People across the…

Meeting Roxy

Rescue dogs are special. I had the pleasure of meeting Roxy at Jeff’s 30th birthday party last weekend. She’s a little bit of a thing. I remember how Kristin was texting Karen back and forth with photos when she and Jeff were making the final plans for the rescue. Karen had been over to meet…

Adorable Ellie B

Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle knows how to win me over every time. If she’s being a pain about wanting to go out too much or then asking to come in too much or forever begging for far too much of my food … All she has to do is give me the look. And…

A suite night with the Chiefs

The department in which my dear wife Karen works at SMG came up on the big wheel at work. It was our night to join her co-workers in the company suite at NBT Bank Stadium following her shift and my hours at the Liverpool Public Library on Tuesday, I was informed sometime last week. And…

A new routine: Friday lunch at the library

Day-by-day, I’m settling into the routines of working as a communications specialist at the Liverpool Public Library. Yes, I’m again talking lunchtime here. Early on, I posted about the lovely two-block walk to eat on the bench by the Onondaga Lake Park marina. Not on Fridays, though. Not anymore. On the final work day of…

Happy 30th, Jeff

My dear wife Karen and I were honored to attend one of the best birthday parties ever Saturday afternoon. The sun was shining. The breeze made the warm air tolerable. Kristin had set up the backyard beautifully for the surprise party she so painstakingly planned for her significant Jeff. He loved it. His family and…