Zoom (and Noom) Your Way to Weight Loss
January is always the month where I say I’m going to change my eating habits — for good as opposed to for 48 hours. That usually involves finding an app that will guide me through the slimming process. I like…
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Texas, I will Miss a Tiny Part of You When You Secede
This time next year, anyone landing in Texas may be faced with a very long walk through the airport, a journey that culminates in a large room and an interview with a suspicious Texas ranger who demands to know just…
Pandemic Driven Thanksgiving Traditions
I sincerely apologize to anyone who hoped to make a Thanksgiving dish featuring cream cheese and could not locate any at nearby grocery stores. It was all at my house. The thousands of cream cheese-driven calories I consumed…
For Thanksgiving, My Tiny House is Your Grand Palace
At the risk of being excoriated by Illinois public health officials, I have just extended an invitation to my out-of-town relatives to join me for a lavish Thanksgiving feast. They can even stay through Christmas if they like, COVID-19 be…
Don’t Worry World. A Private Island Isn’t all That
Political campaigns have finally come to a much-needed end; and yet, no politician ever promised to rid this country of one of its most pressing nightmares: celebrities on social media announcing how they are dealing with the pandemic. Since lockdown…
In 2020, Thanksgiving is the New Halloween
Arrive for Thanksgiving wearing your scariest, most blood curdling mask. Just make sure the mouth opening is wide enough for turkey and sweet potatoes to pass through.
When a Home Office Causes Physical Pain
As the pandemic keeps the world’s workforce away from offices, working from home has become the norm. Basements, spare bedrooms and dining room tables are suddenly being relabeled the “home office” with family members jockeying for space each morning.
The Return of the Vinyl Album is Music to My Ears
Recently released data from the Recording Industry Association of America showed that, for the first time in more than 30 years, vinyl albums (Google that phrase, kids) outsold CDs.
Home School Lessons for Parents Who No Longer Care
The laptop in that home school pod you eagerly set up last spring continues to hog the bandwidth you need to function at your now work-from-home job. Of course, that’s assuming you haven’t lost your job and need the bandwidth to look for another one.
The Pandemic, Measured in Coffee Cups and Costco Runs
For me, the quarantine began the day my wife returned from Costco, presented me with a 45-ounce container of Dunkin Donuts Medium Roast Original Blend coffee and said, “That ought to hold you.”
Sorry YouTube, My Life in a Day is not that Interesting Right Now
Had YouTube chosen July 22 to conduct “Life in a Day,” I could have wowed Macdonald with a happy birthday Facetime call I made to my 84-year-old aunt in Michigan. Yes, that was on my calendar. All by itself.
Five Reasons You Gained the COVID 15
Much like first-year college students must grapple with the freshmen 15, a 15-pound weight gain typically attributed to late night pizza orders, dime beer specials and unlimited dorm cafeteria desserts, “the COVID 15” has become part of our physiques.
My Hammock is Available to the Highest Bidder
Since receiving it for Father’s Day many years ago, my hammock has been the source of unbridled pleasure. And naps. The hammock is that dangling carrot that awaits me after mowing my lawn in sweltering heat.
Polarization Means “Do as you Please”
The Cambridge dictionary defines freedom as “the condition or right of being able or allowed to do, say, think, etc. whatever you want to, without being controlled or limited.” And my, oh my, are we getting good at it.
The Lunch my High School Graduate Never Got to Eat
My youngest daughter is a member of the now infamous high school class of 2020; her days of carrying a lunch to school were ending this year. My wife, the chief lunch maker, and I, her faithful substitute, knew it.