Suddenly it’s August, and school starts (for me) in 12 days. This year I’m telling myself I’ll slow down, and will not be substituting as much as in the past. At least that’s the plan, but I’ve said that before. Being a history nerd, I originally wanted to teach social studies. It took me two
Anyone who travels the world likes to find unique keepsakes to help document their journeys. And yet, it takes a practiced eye to differentiate between the kitschy (miniature Eiffel Towers!) and the truly unique items that preserve special memories. I’m not saying I’ve never succumbed to the mundane, but over the years I have found
I’ve just returned from my latest adventure which took me back to Bhutan, that diminutive Buddhist kingdom sandwiched between India and China. I had visited in 2018 to run the Thunder Dragon Marathon, the second part of the Dragon Challenge, the first part being the Great Wall Marathon in China the preceding week. That was
I first wrote this reminisce about one aspect of my military service in September 2021. I thought this would be a good time to republish it since we’re at war again. Listening to the media coverage of the Iraq withdrawal, one of the most heartbreaking stories was the interview with the widow of the last
I first published this in December 2022 and thought it would be fun to revisit it. This story is attributed to appellate Judge David Bazelon. A Chinese father calls his children to a family meeting and tells them that somebody has pushed the family outhouse into the Yangtse River and asks somebody to confess; nobody
Since this is Super Bowl Week, I’m revisiting my thoughts on professional football. I have been a fan all my life; during my formative years, the Cleveland Browns were the only Ohio team and star running back Jim Brown was in his prime. That’s what got me hooked. Since then, as I’ve aged and entered
This is one of my favorite short stories. It was originally published at BewilderingStories.com in Issue 612, and was an Editors’ Choice in the 2015 First Quarterly Review. It’s also included in my book Stories Short and Strange, available on this website and Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=%22stories+short+and+strange%22&i=stripbooks&crid=3NM0S4R47KU87&sprefix=stories+short+and+strange+%2Cstripbooks%2C145&ref=nb_sb_noss). By the way, one of these segments actually
Christmas is fast approaching, so it’s time to repost my Christmas story. This was inspired by a friend who works as a department store Santa. He once described meeting a little girl with a special wish, and I took it from there. This is included in my book, Stories: Short and Strange, available on this website, and
Today at the high school where i substitute teach, a student came into my classroom and give me an invitation to go online and complete a survey about my job. Always happy to accommodate, I complied. Being a part-time substitute , I felt unqualified to answer some of the questions, like on cell-phone policy. Others,
Have you every heard the saying “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door”? If not, good, because it isn’t true at all. Not only do you need a promising idea, but you need a way (preferably multiple ways) to tell the world about it. No one is going