The walking trails along Onondaga Lake shouldn’t be a dirty little secret

Sometimes I let too much time go by between my visits to the shores of Onondaga Lake or the winding creek that feeds it. My view, you see, is that the body of water smack dab in the middle of New York State has lots going for it. Reputation be damned. My fellow Syracusans know…

Keep Calm and (I had fun filling in the blank)

Keep Calm and Go Orange, read the T-shirt on the student walking up the aisle in the Carrier Dome. Now, where have I seen that slogan before? As it turns out, the Syracuse fan’s shirt is just the latest in a parade of variations that have grown from the British pre-World War II slogan Keep…

Promote Your Blog

Promote Your Blog. This kind 20-year-old from Derby, England, offered up his 20,000-plus followers for a reblog. And I took him up on that offer. Thank you, Mr. Fox. I shall consider this a test of the power of reblogging. Have any of you followees/followers gone this route yet?

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…

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…