The news from Uvalde is too painful to bear. Instead, I want to talk about termites. We have a termite problem at our house because it has a wood frame and exposed beams. This is one of many genius decisions the builders of our house made 50 years ago. Normally…

My son and I are going to our first baseball game of the season next week when the Angels take on the Blue Jays. Baseball remains my favorite sport. It’s my favorite to watch. It’s my favorite to play, even though I wasn’t good at it. Most importantly, baseball offers…

It was an awful weekend of an awful year. In addition to the white supremacist terrorist attack in Buffalo, another mass shooting took place down the road from us in Laguna Woods. Another hate-fueled man drove hundreds of miles to kill innocent people because of who they are. It’s easy…

By now, everyone has given their hot take about the leaked Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v Wade. Instead, I want to make a confession. If you went to Cal State Northridge in the 80s, you might remember a large glass case in Sierra Tower. Campus organizations can promote their…

Welp, The Remainders didn’t place in this year’s Eric Hoffer Book Awards contest. With 2,500 entries, it was far from a sure shot. From the times I was on the other side of the judging table, I know how tough it is to pick a winner. One book might have…

It’s Earth Day when we’re all exhorted to “save the planet.” But as George Carlin pointed out long ago, it’s not the earth that needs saving. Humanity does. We need to keep the planet habitable for ourselves. That’s the real reason we’re concerned about the environment — and we get…

The problem with being a writer? You must do plenty of things other than writing. I have to keep up with my social media. (I need to make the most of Twitter before Elon Musk turns it into another one of his ego strokes). I must keep track of my…

I don’t like to describe it as losing weight. But by losing 82 pounds (36.3 kilograms), I found something. I discovered my body for the first time at age 60. And I love it. I like seeing my collarbone and the definition of my muscles in my shoulders and biceps…

I had several achievements last month. I finally passed the $100 threshold to get paid from Google AdSense. I made over a dollar for the first time in the Medium Partner Program. I have over 300 followers on TikTok and 3,500 on Twitter. As big of a deal as these…