Personal

Matt on June 10th, 2011

I’m a news junkie. Have been since I was a nerdy 80s kid watching the nightly news when things got exciting overseas. I remember spending the first part of my summer in ’89 watching Tiananmen Square unfold from my sweaty upstairs bedroom on the old Zenith. I really caught the bug in college as I [...]

Continue reading about Getting down to business in a bleak economy

Matt on June 9th, 2011

Canada came home today. I sloshed my way to the airport in a four-inch downpour. And, there she was riding down the escalator, looking a little weary and very much happy to see me. We’re pitiful old high school sweethearts and wouldn’t know what to do without each other. We don’t often spend more than [...]

Continue reading about Stepping away from the work desk

Matt on June 8th, 2011

It’d D Day +2. One of my hobbies is WWII. I dabble rather than obsess, unlike some history buffs I’ve witnessed here and there. I’ve let the only magazine subscriptions I actually bother to pay for run out. That would be WWII magazine and World War II History magazine. And, I haven’t watched Saving Private [...]

Continue reading about The way to Normandy

Matt on June 5th, 2011

It was a season-ender in every sense of the word. Given the schizophrenic Iowa weather these last few weeks, I’d say winter finally ended, and summer turned up the heat. Spring? We don’t need no stinking spring! The kids soccer season is also finally here, which is cause for celebration all around. The kids now [...]

Continue reading about End of the seasons

Matt on June 4th, 2011

You want to know something about me? I have a vicious temper. This isn’t some quaint character flaw. You know, like Hemingway is a romantic drunk or how your grandpa tells racist jokes sometimes, but you love him anyway. No. This is relationship crashing stuff I’m talking about. It nearly wrecked everything I had and [...]

Continue reading about My Mr. Hyde side

Matt on June 3rd, 2011

“People are crazy and times are strange I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range I used to care, but things have changed” – Bob Dylan, Things Have Changed I spent a good part of the afternoon meeting with my old boss, John. We still work together after I transferred to another department about 5 [...]

Continue reading about The art of solitude

Matt on June 1st, 2011

I worked out at the gym in my small town today. Most people I talk to say they prefer exercising outdoors. I’d rather run and lift weights inside. It’s because I use that time to wind down my thoughts. Running outside tears the hell out of my knees, too, but it keeps me distracted. What [...]

Continue reading about Working things out, day 1

Matt on April 12th, 2011

Around the first of the year, the company I work for always puts on a special event to get employees exercising. I started and stopped the last couple years. But, this year I stuck with it. So far, I’ve worked out nearly every week. I missed a couple when I was sick and on vacation. [...]

Continue reading about Shaping up a routine

Matt on March 20th, 2011

I spent the week on vacation with my family. We drove to Denver to stay with my wife’s sister and enjoy the tourist attractions. Among those was the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, where they had a special touring exhibit, Real Pirates! The exhibit was wonderful, and inspiring for my current writing project. The [...]

Continue reading about Spring break, with pirates

Matt on January 9th, 2011

I’m 35. This year, my wife and I moved into our dream house after six frustrating and stressful years of trying to move out of our first home. Now, we and our two children have a wonderful place to live. When I was 15, my dream was to be one of two things – bass [...]

Continue reading about Waking up a dream