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A long winter lies ahead. Trump has won the US presidency, in what appears to be a fair and mostly by-the-books election. It's a mess. I fear the foundations of the country are so rotted that our long-held institutions will not recover. I have a lot of thoughts, but they're not well organized this morning. For now, Terry Pratchett sums it up pretty well: "People on the side of The People always ended up disappointed, in any case. They found…

If you could stop fascism in three hours, would you do it? There are kind, smart people in every community who want to vote, but are having challenges right now. Maybe they have to work on Tuesday and are unsure how to navigate early voting. Maybe they put off the mail-in ballot too long. Maybe they have mobility issues, or no car. Many people will get it done if someone reaches out to help. Check with your people. Try to…

We are lucky to be an hour's drive from the world-class amusement park Cedar Point. We finally took the kids in October. The ride cameras aren't the best, but this one so perfectly captured our collective terror on the Magnum XL200... (Weird crop because I had to cut out their crappy auto-frame.) Me, just trying to figure out why I voluntarily got on this thing. She is willing to ride nearly any coaster, but she's not sure about this one.

COVID has permanently shuttered many bars and venues, but the announcement from El Chapultapec in Denver really hits home for me. This unassuming little bar in downtown was a long-standing institution in the music scene, not just locally but nationally too. You could go and hear incredible musicians in this tiny joint any night of the week, most playing not for the patrons but for the love and joy of music. National touring performers have been stopping by El Chapultapec…

My Facebook feed is on fire this week. The anti-Trump posts, ever present, seem to have reached a boiling point. Several people I know wrote posts requesting that any Trump supporters in their network defriend them immediately, be they acquaintance or blood relative. Lots of calls for Nazi punching. Normally I get a giggle out of the funny or ironic posts, but the stuff I'm seeing this week is alarming. America isn't getting less divided. It's going the other way…

My wife and I are planning a family move in 2018, relocating from Denver to Cleveland. There's no one thing that's pushing or pulling us, really. Many things aligned to make this a good time to consider a move. There's lot of great stuff happening in Denver, and it's a neat place to be. When I talk to people in other parts of the country, they often say "Oh, you're lucky! I'd love to live out there." Intentionally giving it…

My wife and I are planning a family move in 2018, relocating from Denver to Cleveland. There's no one thing that's pushing or pulling us, really. Many things aligned to make this a good time to consider a move. She went to college at Case Western Reserve University, so she has some familiarity with the city. She's always had good things to say about it. Until recently though, I had the typical outsider attitude: "Rust Belt city? Why would I…