Tag Archives: The Thing I’m Doing This Year

It’s Over, I Quit

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Charlie

I’m just trudging along and this couple of senior citizens comes up from behind. They are both decked out in colorful running garb with compression socks and arm sleeves. He gets my attention. I take out an earbud. He asks, “Has you pack sprung a leak or are you just sweating?”
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Iranians in America

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Charlie

Afterwards, I ask the Iranian PR person from Washington D.C., what do your guys think of the Pledge and the prayer. I was wondering if they thought we were some kind of nationalistic, jingoistic, religious fanatics. And the PR guy said, not at all, coming from Iran, they all assumed that all Americans were godless heathens. I thought, well not all of us. Continue reading →

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To the Camp

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Charlie

The trail gets very rocky closer to the camp. At one point the entire trail was covered in a moving stream of water, which was a little confusing because the snow cap on the mountain top was already melted. Nature, you’ve got to love it. Even closer to the camp you start to see white stones in the trail and there’s also a fence. Lots of little rock steps and then you see the framed out wood bridge over a little creek leading to the camp bunkhouse. I checked my watch as I crossed the bridge for the first time in years. Continue reading →

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Kandinsky and More Kandinsky

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Charlie

ShareTweet The Thing I’m Doing This Year #26 Over eight days in late July I took in two beach events in Long Beach and Milwaukee. Nice and warm in California, an event featuring all the superstars of beach volleyball. I … Continue reading →

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Niles Crane

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Charlie

Right from the get-go his right leg is violating my internationally-recognized leg space. Heat is building between us and the closer-than-close proximity. Do I tell him to move his fucking leg? No. I do one better. I shoot him several perturbed glances both at him and his offending leg. Continue reading →

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I Got Nowhere Else to Go

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Charlie

The next Monday it was a different story. No thunderstorm warnings, but rain was a distinct possibility. I threw caution to the wind, winds?, and took off for home. No weather is going to slow me down. About halfway home I get caught with my pants down … I mean, not literally … I wasn’t even wearing pants so to speak … I was wearing shorts. I proceeded to get pounded by a torrential downpour, because that’s the only kind of downpour there is … torrential. Just completely hammered and not in a good way. Continue reading →

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Invisible Man

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Charlie

Then I went into the bookstore and find a book off my nerdy books-to-buy-next list, “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino. People who are in the know consider this book a post-modern masterpiece. In a conversation with Kublai Khan, Marco Polo describes cities from Khan’s empire and/or cities Polo visited on his worldwide travels. A couple of things got me off track, first the “Khan” described here is not the same Khan I found wildly entertaining in a couple Star Trek feature films. No, totally different guy. Continue reading →

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