OTHER COOL THINGS is the blog page where I go off topic. In other words, this is a page where I ramble about a wide variety of subjects which have nothing to do with the Cross House restoration or Emporia.
OTHER COOL THINGS is where I might suggest a great new restaurant. Or a movie I enjoyed, or book. Or a favored blog.
OTHER COOL THINGS may — fasten your seat belt — open discussions about dangerous subjects such politics or religion.
OTHER COOL THINGS will, in short, be a page where I ramble about anything which captures my special attention. Like, perhaps, a nice moment I had with my favorite cat Gilda.
I love comments, so please do not hesitate to toss your two cents in, even if you disagree with me.
My blog posts are below. Enjoy!
Lucky Ross
Today, I pulled into the Chrysler dealer. The key fob for my 2010 mini-van was just not working. A week previous, I had a new battery installed. This was after having a new battery installed just a month previous. It was obvious that my key fob was experiencing its death throes. The woman at the…
Continue ReadingDo You Want to be on the Right Side of History?
WARNING: This is a political post. The above image is famous. It depicts a moment in time when nine African-American students, escorted by the National Guard, were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The nine students were surrounded by an angry mob of white people who did not want to share…
Continue ReadingA Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
This is a political post. If you hate politics and current events, don’t scroll down.
Continue ReadingThe Loss of Valuable Things
In the fall of 1978, I moved from Florida to New York City. I was twenty-one, and had $200 to my name. How insane was that? My first apartment was on East 12th Street, a one bedroom. It was $650 a month, which is today laughable but which was scary $$$$ at the time as…
Continue ReadingLies About Your Health Care PART II
Warning: This is a political post. You may not be interested in politics, but your life may depend on the following words. Five days ago I wrote this: “Around the country, Republicans are on the campaign trail. And a lot of them are, bizarrely for Republicans, defending Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Even Trump…
Continue ReadingWanna Meet Sid?
Sid belonged to my neighbor. Then she moved. And left him. Then another neighbor took him in. Then she moved. And left him. It took a while, but I managed to coax him over to my house, where he has lived outside for the almost four years. He is one of “front porch kitties”, about…
Continue ReadingLies About Your Health Care
Warning: This is a political post. You may not be interested in politics, but your life may depend on the following words. Around the country, Republicans are on the campaign trail. And a lot of them are, bizarrely for Republicans, defending Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Even Trump is stating, vigorously, that he supports…
Continue ReadingRemembering Tom Payne
Memory is a peculiar thing. Old memories can arrive unbidden after decades, and yet still seem fresh and alive. Today, I was sanding a basement window at the Cross House when Tom Payne reentered my mind. I have not thought about Tom in many years. But, I have never forgotten him. In 1973, I was…
Continue ReadingKitty Kaption Kontest
New Kitty: Don’t look at me; you’re the one that keeps feeding it! As challenging as the category for this round of charades was (national flags: South Korea) Gray and New Kitty had victory in sight… and then someone’s paw strayed into the DMZ. New Kitty: She’s sniffing my paw! That means I get…
Continue ReadingCat Fight!
This all looks fierce. It wasn’t. The two enjoyed it. I could tell right away that Gray was down with being assaulted because her tail never fluffed up, as it would if she was freaked. And at one point she bolted to the safety of the night table…only to casually walk…
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