A special package from halfway across the world

A special package was stuck into my mailbox at the library this festive month of December. For the second year in a row, my blogging friend from a whole other hemisphere put me on her holiday list. An array of gifts were inside for myself, my dear wife Karen and Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle.…

Hanover Tree holds a familiar swirl

Walking through downtown Syracuse this holiday season, the decorated trees in Hanover Square caught my eye. Like our lawn at A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville, they’re working with non-evergreen-style trees to decorate. I agree with that.

One heck of a newspaper staff

My Facebook friend Pat Myers put a photo on my page last week that begged for a Throwback Thursday slot here. We were the student staff of the University of Maryland daily, The Diamondack. It was one hell of a college newspaper those 40 years ago. This black-and-white was captured for the yearbook in 1978.…

When push comes to shove in Girls Trip, the women emerge

There are plenty of ups and downs in Girls Trip How about a balcony-to-balcony zip wire trip over a bustling New Orleans street where one woman’s personal momentum stops short but the comedy’s acrobatic adrenaline and basic bawdiness soars? Or a fruit-involved boudoir primer that turns into a doleful and painful experience? This 2-hour, 2-minute…

We spotted some different stripes

Something about a flag waving in the wind caught my eye as I walked with Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle in the blocks around A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville. It was an American flag, I thought. But something was a bit … off. We were going too fast, and the wind…

Keeping track of that old-time feel

I took the direct route from Point A (the library) to Point B (my drug store) to get my prescriptions on the way home to A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville. And along came a train to block my way. This is the second main road on which I had to stop…