Tonight’s forecast: scattered thoughts with no chance of an overarching theme

One of my favorite bars here (not that the list is very long) is called The Griffin. Yes, as in that medieval monster thing you’ve probably seen on a coat of arms or two. Appropriately, the interior looks like some sort of castle or dungeon straight out of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. …

This might be satire. Or not.

Dear Perplexed Single People of the World, Have you ever noticed that the more doggedly you pursue someone romantically, the more likely that person is to just shrug it off and ignore you? And conversely, have you ever noticed that the less interested you are in the affections of an admirer, the more persistent that …

Standing idly by as Gregor Samsa slowly starves to death

The main light in my kitchen is one of those long fluorescent ones, with a deeply rounded plastic covering. During a housecleaning marathon this summer, I went to the trouble of removing the cover and cleaning out all the dead bugs that had christened it their final resting place It remained fairly pristine until a …

How to kill a packrat

Up all night again. Having a hard time with the head lately. Going through boxes inscribed with names of various ex-lovers. Relationships, or close enough, reduced to letters, photographs, and other random useless junk. Hard copy backups of memories long written over in the mind. All taped shut and rotting in the closet since I …

The wondrous world of THE ONE: A loving critique

One of the more interesting “features” of the human mind is our tendency to embrace an irrational belief when we’re not willing to look for (or accept) a more rational explanation. This is especially apparent when it comes to romantic relationships. Without a doubt, one of the best (or worst) examples of this is the …

High tide for aquatic dating metaphors

Upon finding yourself unexpectedly thrust back into the murky depths of the dating pool, the natural response is to flounder and panic. “What will I do now? Where will I meet someone new? Why can’t I breathe?” And so on. You’ve seen a quarter century now, well out of college and into a career. Fishing …