I put in a mobile order for a tall soy latte and egg bites at Starbucks. Usually I walk right in and pick up my stuff, but today I had to wait. The barista asked me my name and when I said, “Zain”, the guy next to me said, “And are you sane too?” Two
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Brief History of The O2R Blues Band and Me
Let me tell you an origin story. A blues band origin story. What did you do when you were a kid that you still do now? For me it’s singing and loving music. My sister taught me St. Louis Blues when I was 5 but I was singing before that. I know lyrics from musicals,
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Psst…..kid. Wanna make a deal?
I admit to a streak of wildness. Sometimes this gets me into situations where I find amazing talents for tasks I never thought I’d even enjoy. Like lifting weights or riding a tandem bike. I’ve also done things that ended up being really risky. And afterward I usually say, “It seemed like a good idea
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How I never saw Jaws
I’m not a fan of horror flicks or even movies with too much suspense. I can’t stand it and I can’t “un-see” or forget scary stuff. I get nightmares for years. I forgot to mention this little quirk of mine long ago when I met Richard. I was much less confident then. He asked me out
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Do you see colors when you’re mad?
“Nobody loves me, Everybody hates me, I’m goin’ out’n eat worms!” Here’s why. I’m stubborn and I have a bad temper when provoked. When I was a little kid and I was angry, I’d go up to my room and march back and forth. The movement helped me to blow off steam, but the family downstairs
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How many stitches did you get?
When we were kids, parents were the exact opposite of helicopter parents. After breakfast they told you to go outside and play. They expected you to get dirty and not die. They warned (read: threatened) you about a whole lot of things not to do. You didn’t tell them if you played in the street,
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Whoa, did you see that too? Is he okay?
“Do you think he’s okay? Should we have stopped and checked on him?” Ken asked me. “Nah,” says I, “He’s just drunk. Did you hear a huge crack? I think he broke the fence.” We were in the little red convertible around 7 PM when we’d noticed a big guy having trouble walking up a
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Question: how sick do you have to be before you go to the walk-in clinic?
Last January 2020 I was sick for three weeks and after two days of feeling better, I had a relapse, becoming sicker than before. Was it COVID-19? Nah, I didn’t have any of the symptoms we now can recite in our sleep. I called my doctor’s office and they said they could get me in
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People who shop on Christmas Eve are a different breed
Long ago I lived with John in Ann Arbor. He believed in buying holiday gifts on Christmas Eve at 5pm at K-Mart, “for the rush of it.” I hadn’t ever considered heading to K-Mart on Christmas Eve but I was ready for adventure! K-Mart was strewn with cars parked at odd angles due to the
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We laughed so hard we had trouble breathing
The Slippery Noodle blues bar in Indianapolis was in the news the other day. Sadly the owner Hal Yeagy passed away. I remember a trip we took to the Noodle to see Pinetop Perkins many years ago. Pinetop was in his 90s but still rocking the blues. He was 100% a gentleman, very dapper and
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What does it take to be confident? One day I found out.
Before we built the primitive cottage we lived in for 14 years, we rented a place that had one room with a wood stove and no plumbing. Living primitively is not for weenies, especially when something goes wrong. It takes grit and self-confidence. Here’s an example: One afternoon I went out to gather a load
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Squirrels are eating our cars!
Conversations are all stories. Everything that comes out of our mouths gets filtered through the cheesecloth of our brains. Ick. I’m not sure I like that analogy but you get my drift. Here’s an example: Today I was making breakfast and noticed that Ken was tip toeing across our deck with a gun in his
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