"When I do not want to say things in real life I often say them here." — Mimi Smartypants
What was (and might have been)
Early on Election Day, I got on my motorcycle and headed out on a six-day trip. I knew I’d hear no news until arriving at my first night’s destination, but was confident that by then Hillary Clinton would be on her way to a landslide victory, a blue Senate sweeping in with her. So here we are, one week later. […]
An upper molar is bothering me, the same tooth that drove me to endure endodontic torture in June. It’s acting up again and I’m going to have to call the dentist to see if he can work me in. As a metaphor for tonight’s debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, an aching tooth seems […]
The first thing I do after getting out of bed in the morning is turn on the small radio sitting on top of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Donna and I like to listen to NPR news while we get ourselves ready for the day. Fifteen years ago this morning, we turned the radio on in the middle of a live report from […]
There were three tram tours on Monday’s schedule at the Pima Air & Space Museum, and three drivers. I drove and narrated the first tour, then helped collect tickets for the second. I told the other drivers I wanted to take photos of our newest exhibit, a very rare McDonnell FH-1 Phantom. They said fine, […]
Most of us think of precision weapons as smart bombs and associate such weapons with military air forces, but they’re employed by navies and armies as well. The accurate term is precision-guided munition. Definitions differ. Wikipedia says a PGM is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target and to minimize collateral damage. The Department of Defense says […]
I posted this vintage Christmas card to Facebook to amuse my friends. The kid’s woeful expression prompted a few comments. Really, though, if you study 19th and early 20th century portraits, photos, and illustrations, unsmiling faces were the rule rather than the exception. People always looked somber. I started to wonder why that was. Well, for one thing, […]
I don’t know when Veterans Day turned into Veterans Week, but it has, so I don’t feel too bad posting a little of my own veteran history one day early. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, I was stationed at Soesterberg Air Base in the Netherlands, a brand new F-15 Eagle pilot in the 32nd […]
Gosh, how long’s it been since I last suggested cops should stop tasing, beating, and killing people for no reason? Feels like months. Actually it’s been weeks, which is a long time for me. It’s not that I’ve given up; it’s more like everyone knows what I think anyway, and nothing I say is going to change the […]