Tag: Life

  • Running with My Kid

    I am not a fan of working out, but I understand the need. As a person with a wife and child, I want to spend as much time with them as possible, hence why I try to work out. Not that I am good at it, or even good with keeping the schedule of working out, which leads me to say that, though I may not be “in” shape, I most certainly am not “out” of shape.

    My daughter used to play soccer, which would practice three days a week, and play one game on the weekend. Sadly, she got burned out on the sport, and has been without a physical activity since June. Not one to sit around and do nothing, the kid asked me if we could take up jogging together.

    I am not one to discourage my child, and feel that one of my primary responsibilities is to support my child on whatever endeavor she wishes to pursue. So, of course, I said yes to her request, and we planned on jogging around our local park, two days a week to start with. You know, see how we feel about it.

    The kid loves it.

    It’s been painful for me.

    My knees have been hurting, along with my left foot, and I have been waking up in the morning with a sore right hip. But the worst part, by far, is how clearly running with my kid has shown that I might, in fact, be closer to “out” of shape, rather than “in.” I can only run so long before my lungs start burning, and my muscles feel weak and rubbery. I even noticed that the kid is slightly annoyed at how slow I run, and has started just running way in front of me, and waiting for me to catch up with her.

    I keep telling her that I will get up to her speed, but it’s just going to take me some time. I gotta practice and get my old body back into the swing of running.

    “Sure, dad.” She says to me. “Sure.”

  • ODDS and ENDS: Friday, Saturday and Sunday

    (Thursday I don’t care about you…)

    Friday is just okay in my book. When I was working full time, and had a career and everything, I did look forward to Fridays. When I was performing, Friday was always a show, which usually led to a late night with the cast – either at the theatre or at a bar. Now, Friday is the final day of chores for the family. If I do have time for myself, it’s at the end of the day. Friday night to Saturday morning is my chance to catch up on bad movies and tv. There’s no rest on a Friday.

    This coming Saturday we are heading out to get our pumpkin for Halloween. We have given up on carving a pumpkin, as no one in our house really likes doing it. Well… no one likes cleaning out the pumpkin of its guts. Two years ago, we painted a pumpkin, and last year, we just had one that we left on the bookshelf… Not the most exciting, I will admit. This year, we are getting more than one pumpkin – maybe even a fancy pumpkin that is a different color than orange. Could even have those weird pimple bumps on it. What I can tell, and even feel, is that we are in the middle of a transition when it comes to Halloween in our home. It’s not so much kid and trick or treating centric anymore. We are moving towards more of an Autumnal celebration. I’m not sad about it, the kid is getting older, and at some point everything does change.

    Sunday is the night for disappointment! Talking about the Dallas Cowboys here. Yeah… I know they aren’t out of it, as the NFC East is just a dumping ground. No, I’m not looking forward to sitting through three hours of them sucking. And it is the defense that sucks, which will make the whole time just painful. Good thing the Knicks are about to start playing.

  • Short Story Review: “Chuck Murphy’s Last Run” by Kevin Barry

    (The short story “Chuck Murphy’s Last Run” by Kevin Barry appeared in the October 19th, 2026 issue of The New Yorker.)

    (Illustration by Thomas Colligan; Source photograph from Getty)

    Just about nobody likes getting older. The exception in my life is my kid, who looks forward to every birthday, with the adding another digit to her age. For the rest of us, at some point a switch is flipped, and getting older is something that is dreaded rather than celebrated. Kevin Barry’s story “Chuck Murphy’s Last Run” takes a stab at this predicament, using a group of aging Irish friends, who all belong in a quasi-biker gang, as they journey to send off their mutual friend who recently died.

    The story begins with a solid first paragraph, establishing that what will follow will be humorous as it tackles a somber situation. This approach worked well for the story, which was a very competent piece of writing. Nothing got too serious, as Barry would slip in a joke or two to break any building tension. Motivations were understood, and the interplay between characters felt honest. In all, the story moved at solid clip.

    Yet, nothing happened in this story that wasn’t predictable. You knew they were going to make it to their destination, you knew they were going to say goodbye to their friend, you knew people in the group were going to have an argument, and you knew the main character was going to learn that life was changing, again. This is the reason why I used the word competent to describe this story, because that’s what it was. I could diagram out this story, it was so well constructed. I wouldn’t call it paint by numbers, but it might be two steps away from that.

    What “Chuck Murphy’s Last Run” felt like was a piece of store-bought cake. Sometimes you just want a spongy, sweet piece of cake that hits the spot. It’s a good piece of cake, but five minutes later, you’ve already forgotten about it.

  • Can’t Stop Watching the News (Unedited)

    I have been fighting very hard to not live in an echo chamber. Though it does feel like the whole world is out to get more, or at least push me into a corner. Trying to stay balanced is tricky, because as we all know, if you search too much of one subject, the Algorithm thinks that’s what you want to see all the time. Or, as a friend pointed out to me, our TVs are listening to us now, so I try to watch what I say around the set, as to not send the wrong message to the AI Overlords.

    I say all of this because the midterm elections are three weeks away, and I am getting anxious about the possible outcomes. I’m not sure I can put my whole faith in the coming “Blue Tsunami” as it might just end up being a “Blue Drop.” Having grown up in Texas, and first hand witnessing that state change from Blue to the deepest of reds, I have a hard time believing that anyone with a D next to their name is going to win a state wide election there. (If Jesus was running with a D, he’d lose in a landslide to an R Satan.) And I can’t shake the feelings that there will be Trump shenanigans the day after the election; claims of voter fraud, and court cases, and attempts to seize votes, or claim that certain winners should be sworn in and seated. You know, normal Trump stuff.

    All this makes me anxious, anxious, anxious.

    I will say this; I do believe that just about everybody (70% or so) is fed up with the state of politics in this country. From government not working, to affordability, to healthcare, to people no longer being civil to each other – I do think people are ready, and yearning for things to change. And change for the better. A change that moves us forward. Not one party over the other, but getting back to having faith in each other and working together.

    Only the hardest core of each side enjoys the state we’re in, and I dare say they only enjoy it because they are profiting off of it. The rest of us? I think we’d like to have a friendly debate, and then compromise on a solution.

    You know; the way it’s supposed to be.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Getting Started, Oh Tottenham, and Bloody Mary Brunch

    (Forgetting her’s the nature of my flight…)

    Boy, do I suck and starting something new. And I also suck at just getting back to good habits. I say this because I have found a way to completely, and in the most air-tight form of rationalization, not go to the gym for a month. Even this morning, I was ready to not go to the gym, and I made sure that I did not go. Do I feel good about this decision? Absolutely not. Will I go to the gym on Monday? Odds are that I will not. Yes, indeed; I have found a way to squander the entire month of September. To a degree, I have impressed myself. You may think that this is easy to do, but it is not. Okay, okay, okay… Tuesday of next week; I’m going to the gym.

    Wow! Tottenham Hotspur sucks this season. Really sucks. They suck in a way I thought was impossible to suck. There was no way they could get worse than last season. No, no, they found a way. And they spent a shit ton of money, and somehow they suck even more! They are at the bottom. Completely at the bottom of the Premiere League table. Sitting at #20, with two points. Incidentally, their two points is equal to as many goals they have scored this season. Just… wow. Now, as a Cubs fan (and the Cubbies did get eliminated from the playoffs recently) I know what it’s like for your team to be at the bottom. And normally I would say that there is only one direction, and that’s up! But in the Premiere League, there is relegation, so we might not have hit bottom yet.

    Saturday, I have brunch plans, which sounds fancy, and a little pretentious… All of that is true. But it also means morning/day drinking in a very socially acceptable way. Happy weekend to all, and to all a good drunken afternoon nap.