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Out of Mothballs
There was a point within my lifetime, when baseball was probably still a more popular sport among Americans than football. Personally, up until the 1990s, I cared a lot more about baseball than any other sport. The team I followed daily in the box scores and on TV whenever I could watch them was the Continue reading
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A Secluded Beach
One of my favorite local places to walk is Sterling Nature Center. It’s just over the county line in Cayuga County, about a 20–25-minute drive from my house. (It took a bit longer to get there today as the nature center is just down the way from the local RenFaire, which is now in full Continue reading
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Vegemite
This afternoon, I was one of many men at work across the world. It was business as usual. Then my phone buzzed with a text. “Who can it be now?” I asked myself, picking up the phone. It was a message from Jen: Edible cargo from down under? I was game to give it a Continue reading
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Shoot!
It’s interesting to me when a community claims to be the birthplace of an everyday item or product. There’s often an element of boasting civic pride that feels oddly out of step with the nature of the item itself. I lived for a few years in Shrewsbury, Mass., which many regard as the birthplace of Continue reading
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August
More than any other month on the calendar, August is a time of transitions for me. It starts with the weather. In many parts of the U.S., I know August is associated with the sweltering dog days of summer. But in my corner of Upstate New York, this is the time of year when things Continue reading
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The Odd Wardrobe
One of the formative television shows of my life is The Odd Couple (1970-75). I have memories of watching some original-run episodes with my mother when I was very young. Then, when I was a little older, our cable system featured WPIX, so the reruns were always available to me, and I took full advantage Continue reading
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Course Prep
For most Americans, the unofficial end of summer is Labor Day weekend. For me, it comes a week prior to that when the fall semester starts. The first day of classes is less than a month from this writing, which is my cue to slip into Course-Prep Mode. It’s a bittersweet process. By this point Continue reading
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Endless July Nights
It was hot today, around 90. After the sun went down, the temperature dropped into the 70s, but somehow remains uncomfortable. The air feels sticky and thick. Not great for sleeping. This night reminds me of times when I was a kid on summer vacation, and it was too hot to sleep. I’d stay awake Continue reading
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I Knew Her When She Was a Health Center
The medical building on the SUNY Oswego campus is called the Mary Walker Health Center. When I was a student there, we used to refer to it simply as “Mary Walker,” as if we were talking about a person rather than a building. If you told someone you were running a fever and experiencing flu-like Continue reading
About Me
Researcher. Marketer. Teacher. Father of adult children and dogs. 20th Century holdover. Central New York native. Long-suffering Buffalo Bills fan. History nerd. Traveler. Vintage advertising enthusiast. Hat wearer.
a.k.a. V.J. 