Like many other people, I consider our national park system to be a national treasure. Whenever I travel, I try to visit as many as I can, especially if there is an historical angle. My most ambitious adventure was when I was driving through Utah and visited Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park,
Here are some practical tips on collecting autographs from my days as an editor in the collectibles business. Who wouldn’t like to have a memento from their favorite movie star or sports hero? But the problem with collecting everyday items is verifying authenticity. If someone claims to have a shirt that once belonged to Elvis, how
If you’ve seen today’s Google Doodle, you know it’s Earth Day. BTW, I took the quiz, and I came up Wolly Mammoth — technically extinct, but someday I could be cloned! Speaking of Earth Day, there is one project I’ve always wanted to try. I think it would be fun to have a butterfly garden. There
I was a latecomer to photography. In fact, I didn’t own a camera until I was past 30. But I have since then, and every once in a while, I see something that looks good to me, so I take a picture. I’m sure everyone knows of the National Geographic magazine’s reputation for photojournalism. Did
The formula is Tragedy + Time = Comedy. I first became aware of this when I heard about comedian Tig Notaro and how she turned her diagnosis of breast cancer into a comedy routine. Regular readers know my own mother died last Sunday, April 12th. The further away from that date, the more the sorrow
RUTH MARY WELBAUM 1921-2015 Mom had been weakened by another bout of pneumonia. Thursday morning her caregivers put her to bed after breakfast; when they checked on her two hours later, she was laying on the floor. We don’t know what happened, but she had a broken leg. She deteriorated rapidly after that and
Last night I saw the musical Peter Pan at Wright State University. It was based on the play by Sir James M. Barrie with all the traditional details — a colored light representing Tinker Bell, the role of Peter played by a young lady, and the audience clapping to save Tinker Bell after she drinks the
I guess we all do stupid things. Fortunately, it’s been awhile for me. In fact, this episode happened several years ago. I wrote about it then to convince myself I was turning a negative into a positive. At least about as positive as an emergency-room visit can get. And I’ll repeat it here in the hope
I got home yesterday after a long day of substitute school teaching (middle school French, that’s all you need to know), turned on the faucet at the kitchen sink and… Nothing. Panicked, I tried the hall bathroom. Nothing there either. A broken line? There were no puddles in the yard. Forgot to pay the water
Today I received the following email — Congratulations! You are among the 32 contributors in prose and poetry represented in Bewildering Stories’ First Quarterly Review of 2015, now officially on line. We like to think of the Quarterly Reviews as offering safe harbour on the chaotic sea of the Internet. The Review Editors are very
