So it goes...

On this Thanksgiving day, this may be the toughest year ever to ponder what to be thankful for. A year filled with wildfires, riots, protests, political upheaval and this horrible virus, to name a few make it seem like we should only be thankful that 2020 is nearly over. But still we push on. I know I am. In my own case, it is the good memories of past happiness that keep me forging ahead, wearing a mask, and trying to stay safe.  Of course Thanksgiving provides some of the best memories to draw from. The time of year when everyone is looking toward Christmas and taking a day off to enjoy a meal with those closest to them. Some of my vivid memories are: 1. The years at the Portland House  where our family split Thanksgiving and Christmas between my aunt Helen's house and ours. As my cousins started marrying and having kids of their own, things got too big and we split up. For the first few years we missed the big extended family, but as we grew in size and numbers, we replaced the

So some days are better than others. Today was a day where I had a hard time keeping up with the Zoom meetings, emails and instant messages at work. Other days are blissfully quiet when the emails trickle in slow like, messenger is quiet and the phone doesn't ring. There's something appealing about each, but I prefer the latter, thank you. But amidst the busyness of the day, I got a Facebook friend request from a person I didn't recognize. The messenger note mentioned that this person was googling something about the Crystal River and "Boys Club" youth group from Elmbrook Church, where we both used to attend. Anyhow he said that an old blog post of mine came up where I talked about the Crystal River campout and the whole Boys Club organization. It seems like a lifetime ago that I was part of it all, but it was really only about 8 to 10 years ago.  But what caught me about his message was he said that in his experiencing his new fatherhood, (he has a two year-old

 I want to take a minute to thank all of those veterans out there on this Veteran's Day. I have a few Vietnam vets in my circle group, guys I have the utmost respect for, in part because of the lousy way they were treated after returning. It was the first war I remember and I have vivid recollections of watching some of the action on the news, guys in tall grass and jungles and bunkers. So thank you to ALL veterans here and gone. It's sometimes hard to recognize the America you fought for in these strangely turbulent, divisive times, but I am confident that America will prevail through all the political, social and public health struggles it is dealing with. We are a perseverant lot. I used to joke that I put in my 4 years of service as a student at Cretin High, a military academy in Saint Paul. I realize now that jokes like that are an insult to the men and women who have put their lives on the line in the name of my freedom.  This week, my book about Cretin High came out on A

Yesterday I received my edit copy of my forthcoming book, Cretin Boy, from Burning Bulb Publishing . This is the copy that sets the formatting and allows me to check things out for any final edits. Like the first two memoirs, this is a little surreal, but something I am getting used to with each new book. I must add that the coolest part of all of it is seeing my name at the top of every other page.  I done wrote a book, Ma! There was a time not long ago (10 years or so) that the thought of publishing one book was not even in my sights. Now, three books in, I guess I can say I've arrived. I always refer to my "sub-atomic micro fame," which is all it is, but it is still extremely gratifying and I am just glad to be at this point on my writing journey. One subject that came up from my publisher was the idea of an audio book. The publisher gave me a contact to see if I could get a quote. I contacted the guy and he gave me a quote at around $1800. That amount is actually quit