It seems like I haven’t written anything here in a while. Part of me wants to say that’s because not much has been happening, that we’ve been trapped in the house due to the pandemic and life has just sort of…stopped. But that’s not true. Not in any sense, really. Continue reading
Author Archives: CaptainJaq
It Finally Happened…
Categories: Monki, Personal
Tags: disneyland, Disneyland Paris, it's a small world, pandemic, strollercoaster
2 Comments
On Maps and Knowing Where Things Are
I really love maps. They’re great for showing all sorts of really cool data about any number of things. And doing it in a way which makes it easy to read and understand. Like this one here, next to what you’re reading, it’s a map of New York City, showing the homes/working areas of a number of top superheroes.
Sounds of the Disneyland Resort
It’s no secret I love going to Disneyland. Seriously, just click here and you’ll see various reports of various trips over the last several years, and that’s just since I started keeping track! I’ve even published pieces about taking Monki there for the first time. Continue reading
On the Search for the Silver Lining…
Just trying to parse some stuff here. In the past, a friend or two would contact me to tell me of something negative in their lives and I would respond by trying to trying to cheer them up. Then a few days ago, another friend was having a bad experience and I was responding the way I usually do to which the response came: “I appreciate the search for a silver lining.” Continue reading
Clowning around…
I have a number of good friends who are now or have been at one time professional clowns. I’ve spent a good deal of time the last several years traveling and hanging out with some amazingly funny people. In the past I’ve lived with clowns, worked with clowns, consulted with clowns, written about… you get the idea. In fact, had the world gone a little differently, I might have ended up one myself. I’ve certainly been offered the opportunity.
Needless to say, I have a deep love, admiration and respect for the artform. Thankfully, I’m not the only one and a few years ago, David Carlyon wrote a great piece for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival called American Clowns: Performance, History, and Cliché, which looks at all those different factors in the world of clowning.
Birthdays – 2020 edition
Well, this week, Monki and I turned a collective 57 (or, on average, 28 1/2 each). Personally, I think get the better side of that since in reality I’ve just turned 53 (Holy shit that’s a big number) and she’s just turned 4 (which, in its own way, is also a really big number). Continue reading
Categories: Friends, Monki, Personal
Tags: birthday, books, cake, eggs benedict, elsa, frozen 2, horseback riding, horses, party, reading
Leave a comment
Advice
Now, about four years into this whole fatherhood thing, I’m realizing something I only understood intellectually before – I don’t know shit. When talking to my friend AAron the other day, we were discussing child-rearing and I conceded that yes, I would probably screw up Monki somewhere along the way. No matter how much we try to do the right things in the right way, we (and, let’s face it, all parents) are going to screw up and make mistakes. Continue reading
Virtual Fitness – David Magazine
Back before the Pandemic started, I wrote a cool piece in David about virtual exercise. It’s certainly helped me get through things lately.
Well, this is random…
I like Kickstarter. I also like Etsy. Hell, I like shopping at independent bookstores and supporting my local (even though it’s 5000 miles away) comic book shop, Alternate Reality. Honestly, I try to do whatever I can to support small businesses. But really, none of that is the point of this particular post. Continue reading
Categories: Monki, Personal
Tags: board games, card games, cards, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, game night, games, kickstarter, rpg
6 Comments
So I’m doing something a little crazy
I knew I needed something to kick my brain into gear so I thought I would take a page from SFWA Grandmaster Ray Bradbury.
Bradbury, when he was starting out, sat down to write a short story a week. This seemed like a good idea to me, something to get me practicing a little more. As we all know, I need to figure out ways to get myself motivated and I figured I could sit down and, one day a week, write a story. Continue reading
