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House Arrest
“I’m alright now, but last week I was in rough shape.” ~ Rodney Dangerfield Take Dangerfield’s quote above, swap out the word “week” for “month,” and it would serve as a good summation of my February. Last month was tough. Mostly, it was tough because of the weather. This area is currently recovering from the… Continue reading
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Old Man Winter
I could tell you in this post that it’s been frigid and snowy in my part of the world. Or I could just tell you that it’s a typical January in Central New York and the weather part would go without saying. This “typical” January has come after several much milder-than-normal winters. It’s been a… Continue reading
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Browns at Ravens, Jan. 4, 2025
Back at the beginning of this NFL season, my cousin — a Baltimore Ravens season-ticket holder — invited me to join him in Charm City for a game. My schedule was such that the only game I could get to was the season finale against the Browns. Given the state of the Browns, I didn’t… Continue reading
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Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine
I spent most of today trekking to Maryland. I’m here for a football game and a family reunion of sorts. Details and photos of the festivities are sure to follow in future posts. In the meantime, I wanted to share this most Maryland of images from the lobby of my hotel: I’ve long admired the… Continue reading
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Restoration Project
I go to a lot of antique stores these days. Usually, I just browse and don’t buy anything, but occasionally an item will speak to me and I’ll have to take it home. One such object on a recent trip was a 1970s era Snoopy watch. When I was in elementary school, I was all… Continue reading
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Irresolute
I am writing this on the first day of 2025. I kicked off the year with a couple of my New Year’s Day rituals. First, Jen and I completed a short “First Day” nature hike at Sterling Nature Center. We tromped through drizzle and high wind gusts, guided by a naturalist. The weather could have… Continue reading
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Goose Egg
The thermometer just hit zero degrees Fahrenheit. There’s not much to say about that, but it is a temperature that, when experienced firsthand, is pretty much impossible to refrain from acknowledging. Around here in December, twenty degrees doesn’t even warrant a shrug. Anything in the teens might inspire an exaggerated “brrrrr” sound, or some remark… Continue reading
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December Deceleration
My relationship with Christmas has evolved along with my advancing life stages. As I child, I of course loved Christmas. As a teen, I still liked it but tried not to let on how much for fear of appearing uncool. As a young adult, I tried hard to feel the elusive “Christmas spirit” and felt… Continue reading
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Leaf Peeping & Graveyard Creeping
Last week, I posted about our unseasonably warm and green October. Right on cue, shortly after I published that post, we experienced a stretch of rainy and cold weather. Pretty much overnight, the leaves began changing color. This weekend, the weather got nice again and we decided this afternoon would be a good time to… Continue reading
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52 Pickup
Today, I finished reading Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. When I logged the title into my Goodreads account, I noticed that it was the 52nd book I’ve completed this calendar year. That seemed noteworthy as it puts me well ahead of a pace of one book per week — a volume of reading… 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. 