Month: June 2026

Many years ago, I purchased a new home when my wife and I started a life together.  A new neighborhood so new that it confused our GPS since it did not yet exist.  Based on the address, I triangulated its location and found it.  We made an offer on that house, and after a few weeks, it was ours.  That day when we got the keys was exhilarating, and we celebrated in the kitchen of our new home.

However, I already owned a condo.  We were lucky enough to have the means to purchase our new home without needing to sell my existing home.  These circumstances, while lucky in most respects, had their own disadvantages.  We were focused on establishing our new home, but I still had a home filled with my existing belongings, many of which remained at that condo.

Continue reading “Abusing the voting system” →

‘The Princess Bride’ is among my favorite movies; I discovered it on cable television.  It performed modestly at the box office, but it gained a cult following.  Naturally, I can quote dialogue from the film, though many people already do.  A few years ago, I attended a special afternoon showing of the film with a friend.  A young couple sat next to us; they looked a bit younger than I expected.  I asked them, and they admitted that they were introduced to the film by their respective parents.  Neither was alive in 1987, when the film was released.

The Princess Bride is only one among many favorite films.  I’ll admit that among many of my favorite films, there’s an element of romance.  There’s a subtle way in which the relationship between two people develops.  It may be in the uttering of the words, “As you wish.”  Or it may be in the way that Art3mis and Parzival in Ready Player One say to each other, “You’ll forgive me for this, I promise.”

Continue reading “Love is in the Air” →

I grew up in Florida for a fair portion of my life.  Fort Lauderdale lacked traditional theme parks.  Though we occasionally had these traveling proxies instead.  Groups of traveling theme parks will assemble amusement park rides in the parking lots of shopping centers.  We may have gone to one of these from time to time.

However, large theme parks such as Disney World, Universal Studios, and Busch Gardens are located in Florida.  Throughout my childhood, I’d occasionally visit these parks.  Many times, these trips were coordinated by family or friends; other times, our schools organized them.  In fact, when I graduated from high school, we spent a night at Disney World at an event called Grad Night.

Continue reading “It’s not a funnel” →