Carrie Vaughn wins an internet from me for her post calling attention to how women are so reluctant, due to social pressures or the patriarchy or whatever other influences, to simply accept compliments or declare their inherent worth or ability without qualifying it, and how this is really a very harmful thing. As a father […]

Over the years, I’ve met a few people who claim that they’d love to go back to high school and do it all over again. When I meet these people, I wonder (sometimes aloud) whether they’re mentally ill. Because honestly, except for the couple of people at the top of the pecking order (and perhaps […]

As it was such a beautiful evening, I skipped the overcooked hotel pasta and took a nice long walk (with a little bit of time on the train) over to Arlington for dinner at Ray’s Hell Burger. Some of you might remember hearing about this place on the news: last spring the President dropped by […]

bills? paid. con registration? mailed. fish tank? cleaned. oil? changed. taxes? filed. To celebrate, here’s a picture of a baby tapir: His name is “watermelon”. no lie. enjoy your weekend, everybody.

Among other things* this weekend, we took a trip (at my son’s urging) to the Science Museum of Virginia, which is twenty minutes from my driveway (and has been as long as I’ve lived here), but I’d never managed to visit before. It was a nice day out for the family; we played with a […]

…I’ll let this guy do it: Happy Birthday, My Dear!

So, yeah. Something like a foot of snow on Saturday. Cool. Very white, very pretty. Weekend was fine, hanging out at home, doing "snowed in" stuff. It’s nice when these storms time themselves to fall on a weekend, isn’t it? Here’s the view from the street Sunday morning: Fast Forward to Monday morning. To the […]

feeling human today. Almost. Honestly, it’s time I got back to being “ill” in the manner of Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys, rather than the “gack gushing from every possible orifice” sort of way. You’re welcome, by the way, for that image.

Little bit of snow this morning; nothing serious, but it still shut a lot of stuff down that didn’t need to be up and down VA. Whatever. The dusting didn’t affect me in any significant way, other than make the scenery on the way into work a little whiter and prettier. Wrapping up the week, […]

The holiday break was rejuvinating. I did a lot of things, but most of them involved relaxation. I played games with the wife and kids, read some books, watched a few films, tended to the latest batch of baby mollies, and petted my cat. I also cooked some good meals, (sorta) fixed a car, and […]