Every now and then, I get a snatch of a song running through my head. When that happens, it can drive me nuts, and it’s a devil of a time trying to get another song in there to replace it. It’s gotta be another song, though. I can’t ever just have a head full of peace and quiet. Sometimes the song I try to listen to and replace the persistent one will instead mix with it, creating this weird cacophonic mash-up in my skull that makes me want to stab somebody. In the last several weeks, there’s one song that’s been pretty persistent, and the craziest part is that I have no idea who the artist is, what the song’s…

-11/8/12 – Let me start by saying, thanks for reading. You guys have been amazing to me. I started this blog when I wasn’t even sure what blogs were, or what I wanted to do with mine. I never dreamed that in just five short years, I’d have such a large, and loyal, group of readers. Even the trolls, I thank you as well, because every time I get a comment, my hit count goes up and that adds to the revenue I collect from my sponsors. Each and every one of you who have read, liked, disliked, commented or flamed has helped me go from just another college kid to a person who can make a living doing what…

I’m very worried about my son. More than worried, at this point. Terrified. His behavior these past few weeks is not normal, not healthy. It makes me think there’s something wrong. At first, he would just come and stand at the door way. He did this at night, just before I’d be ready to fall asleep. I’d roll over to turn off the lamp, and he’d be standing there, in the doorway. I used to try to speak to him. I don’t do that anymore. He never has answered me. He just stares. A couple of days ago, he graduated from standing in the doorway to coming in and sitting on the bed. He still doesn’t speak. I have asked…

Call me a misanthrope, an introvert, whatever. The fact is, I always thought I preferred being alone. I had a couple of friends. Well, mainly acquaintances. People I worked with. People I lived near. Family. But I had tried doing the companionship thing, and it never seemed to be for me. I had a girlfriend for two years, but she left me because I rarely wanted to go out with her friends, preferring to stay home, just the two of us. The feeling that was most prominent after she left was relief. I also tried hanging out with a group of people I met online. As in, hanging out with them in the real world. I did this because my…

Maybe it’s late at night, but you can’t sleep. You’re bored, or you can’t stop a bazillion thoughts from racing through your skull, or maybe you had too much coffee, or you’re a little drunk. Whatever the case, I’ve been there, my friend. I know how it feels to sit there and realize that you’re not really living right now. You’re just existing. Surely there’s something you can do, right? But no matter what, no options presented seem like something that feels right. It’s definitely not clubbing night. Watching TV or playing video games seem like mind-numbing options and you’ve likely been surfing the net all night and have realized how little satisfaction you’re getting from that, too. Well, good…

I’ve never been what you’d call a “gamer”. Sure, I own a console. It’s outdated by now. I like to play the odd game. But that’s about it. I’m almost forty. Old enough now that when I was at the height of my “gaming” years, all that really entailed was getting together with friends to play Mario or Castlevania, or Excite Bike, or Punch-Out. Maybe Sonic if a friend had a Genesis, which no one does anymore. Keeping up with the latest trends in gaming was never interesting to me. I have a lot of interests; reading, watching movies and television, listening to music. But gaming? It was never a hobby. More like a pastime. Like most pastimes, I don’t…

Grandpa was 97 years old when he passed away. He lived far from where his three children had settled. Grandma died when I was a small child, and he ended up remarrying another woman a few years later who demanded that he move out west so that she could be nearer to her sons. She was a piece of work, was Grandma Hester. We all wondered how Grandpa could stand her. It turns out that perhaps he could not. We’re not precisely sure when he developed dementia, but it was probably years before we noticed it. He’d tell us about people he was speaking to, or visiting with, or a trip he took. Years later, after we learned he was…

Melinda hated driving at night. She did her best to avoid it. Short trips to the store if she just realized she ran out of tampons or had nothing for dinner after getting home; that sort of thing happened now and then. But she did her best not to go out after dark unless someone was coming to pick her up. So, naturally, she found herself on the longest drive of her life tonight, with no moon, few stars, swirling clouds above her, and acres of forest on either side. As so many unpleasant things in her life, this was her father’s fault. She hadn’t seen or spoken to the bastard in fifteen years, but just after falling asleep tonight…no,…

My parents died in a car crash when I was fourteen. Don’t feel bad for me or anything. I’ve made my peace with that years ago. Life with them was never great, but I do miss them. It’s just that if they taught me one thing it’s to not sit around wallowing in self-pity. I just wish they hadn’t sent me to live with my Aunt Louise. Anyone have that one family member that’s just a little strange, a little cut off from the rest of the family? Aunt Louise was ours. She was also our closest living relative. Dad’s family lived on the other side of the continent. Mom’s parents were both dead and she was an only child.…