You always know.
When you get a message from someone using someone else’s account or phone number, you know. “Hello, this is so and so, can you call me back?” You get that pit in your stomach that something is wrong with whoever owns that account. I’ve been that person in the past, the one charged with updating the social media of a friend who was involved in a serious accident and was undergoing brain surgery.
But yesterday, I was on the receiving end of that message. “Jaq,” the message read. “Call Gail.”
I knew. I didn’t know the details until I called, and the phone was answered by someone else, but this wasn’t going to be good news. I just didn’t know how bad it was going to be. Continue reading “Gail”
Most of these 
The first, immediate response to this week’s question is ‘which time?’ I think, over the course of 43 years or so, I moved out of my parents’ house a total of six or seven times. Some much more successfully than others.
Last summer I got an email from a friend who works in the video game field. She wanted to know if I’d be interested in talking to her boss about writing something. I said “sure,” and then this crazy adventure began.
For me, this question about what famous or important people I’ve encountered in real life is a bit different as I’ve spent most of my adult life involved in various aspects of entertainment, often with people who would get recognized and stopped for autographs while walking down the street. 
Photography has changed quite a bit since I was a kid, so the exploration of today’s question, about the best photograph I’ve ever taken, feels like it’s going to be a bit roundabout and circumspect. I mean, first off, we have to talk about the word “best” don’t we? What does that even mean? “Best” according to whom? 
It’s an interesting question this week. The problem, really, is that I wasn’t so much interested in sports teams when I was a kid. At least not of the big four organized sports leagues (
A couple of years ago, I decided we needed a pet. Not just any pet mind you. Oh no, we needed a fish.
High school was such a long time ago, I’m not sure how this answer is going to come out. I graduated in 1985, which basically means that most of the folks I graduated with have kids who have also already graduated from their own high schools (and have probably already celebrated their own 10-year reunions and started to forget about their own experiences, so what chance do I have of having actual coherent memories, all of which is just crazy to think about.) Anyway…this is about my own favorite teacher(s) so let’s see what we’ve got. 
I have a feeling this is a deceptively complex question. How has the county changed during MY lifetime seems like it should be easy, I mean after all, I’ve been around for more than half a century, and in that long, things are bound to change, right? 
Had an interesting moment today. Monki and I had a fight. Not a big one mind you, but an important one. See, every day, we change the calendars. Over here in Lithuania (and maybe the rest of Europe, I can’t really say), calendars come with a piece of elastic with a little red square for putting over the date. Handy, right?
What’s in a name?
To be perfectly up front here, as I start writing the response to this week’s question, I can tell you the answer is “I don’t know.” In general, when someone says, “Tell me a joke,” I instantly freeze up and can’t think of a single thing. Which isn’t to say I don’t know any jokes, certainly, or have jokes I fall back on (which I’ll get to) but a favorite joke? I just don’t know. 
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 