Average 50+ white guy of mostly southern Italian heritage with a healthy dash of West African & Iranian. Husband, father, friend, community member. Smart enough to appreciate life, Wise enough to question it, Dumb enough to seek answers.
Christmas morn, likely the last year of the magic of Santa
12.25.22 Why do kids rush to grow up? Ok so, rhetorical. I get the idea of growing up, of wanting to find place in the world and experience what those older kids around us enjoy. But what I really don’t understand is the need to NOT believe in Santa and then find this almost cruel…
Winter running trails in Spearfish
Lookout Mountain is a good place to trail run, and ride, dirt all year So here it is, the end of November. Local cross country ski trails and fat bike trails are groomed and riding in The Black Hills of South Dakota. Terry Peak ski area just opened, it’s earliest in several years. And here…
Emotional Eating. Maybe, but I don’t think so.
Right off, I’ll ask you. What is emotional eating? In a world where you can search Google for anything and get a massive amount of answers you would have thought I’d know. And I did and I do. I know that binge eating is a disorder and even has an acronym [BED]. There are sites…
Best winter running traction, and it’s cheap and easy
Find out the best way to get traction on snow and ice when running in the winter – it’s cheap, easy, and doesn’t require Yaktrax or other expensive devices!
Do video games and screens cause my son’s poor behavior?
I’ve written about Nate before. His inability to pay attention, oppositional behaviors, and lack of confidence have been ongoing challenges. The one thing he reacts to without hesitation are screens, primarily hand-held games like those on an iPhone. This has led me to use games and screen times as both stick and carrot. Taking away…
The importance of foster care in the United States
Five years ago today, August 11 2016, Nate officially became part of our family. He came into our lives at 6 months of age. He was taken from his biological mother, an unknown father and extended family unable to take him in. Little did we know that the estimated 3-6 months of care he needed would…
Baking bread, my “perfect” loaf.
I love bread, and I love figuring out how to do things that I don’t need to do… learning for the sake of nothing more than curiosity & personal gratification. So it’s no surprise that, almost on a whim, I decided to learn how to make bread. Off the bat let’s just get something straight.…
Fatherly’s 2020 list of coolest dads
It’s hard to be a kid, it’s also hard to understand the impact we as fathers have. Not only how we treat them but also our life-partners, people around us, friends and foes. I think perhaps my biggest job is that in the current environment of cynicism, tribalism and downright hostility towards those we disagree…
Michael Ian Black on Masculinity
A big part of my attempt at trying to understand myself as a 50ish White Male in the 20’s is how I was ‘taught’ what masculinity was and how I’m trying to understand it now. Black touches on elements of his youth in the 80’s and how that effected him as a man and eventual…