My Frodo is the best buddy a guy could have

My Frodo is the best buddy a guy could have

Posted inRandom Musings
Frodo was just a few weeks old when he joined the family. He was the runt of his litter, a tiny tuxedo cat. My mother-in-law gifted him to us, for our son, even though I insisted no surprise pets. I pretended to be outraged. I wasn't. Even today, I'll still offer some mock outrage about it. Everyone knows it's silly. I love him so much. Frodo liked to bite when he was young. He especially liked to bite my son. There didn't seem to be much reason for it. We think he just didn't like the competition for love. Once,…
Miles Davis, music, and toll of institutional racism

Miles Davis, music, and toll of institutional racism

Posted inMusic, Politics, Random Musings, Rants
Miles Davis has been one of my favorite artists for close to 25 years. If I started going on about how his work has touched me, the scope of his influence, and the importance of his creative legacy, I'd be here all night. The act of expression through creation is sacred to me, and few exemplify this more powerfully than Miles Davis. Yet Youtuber Adam Neely makes an excellent point in the video below: A now infamous police brutality incident in 1959, just after the release of Davis' masterful Kind of Blue album, almost robbed the world of 30 more…
Planting Onions for the End Times (and other veggies you can store)

Planting Onions for the End Times (and other veggies you can store)

Posted inGardening, Random Musings
When the nearby strip malls and shopping plazas are in flames, rioters tearing one another's hair out and stomping one another to death in the blood-and-covid19-soaked parking lot, my onions will be just about ready to harvest. Onions are easy to plant and grow, and depending on your growing zone, now is the time to plant. You want to aim for early spring, when the soil is no longer frozen and can be easily worked. We're talking a solid six weeks or so before you're plant your tomatoes and peppers, give or take. Onions require a pretty long growing season,…
Gardening at the End of the World

Gardening at the End of the World

Posted inGardening, Random Musings
Since fully immersing myself into the gardening hobby -- some would say obsession -- my primary focus has always been on growing food. Growing lots of stuff to eat. Producing. Not from any kind of necessity, but because good production is a nice, tangible result of your efforts. All that food, those jars of pickles, those hot sauces you share, the jars of salsa that are 17x better than store bought, all of that stuff is something you can see and touch and enjoy. To me, it's not much different than recording music at home or writing or painting. When…
LISTEN TO THIS: Buffalo Tom, “Let Me Come Over” (1992)

LISTEN TO THIS: Buffalo Tom, “Let Me Come Over” (1992)

Posted inMusic, Random Musings
A series in which I recommend music that might have flown under your radar. Buffalo Tom - Let Me Come Over Listen if you like: The Gaslight Anthem, The Lemonheads, The Hold Steady, Afghan Whigs Some songs take a while to percolate. They need to simmer in you for a while before they really get into your bones. "Taillights Fade" by Buffalo Tom is not one of those songs. The first time I heard it, it crawled under my skin and wormed its way into my head. It was one of those songs that even after hearing it only once, it…