I’m going to make a gazillion dollars.

It was several years ago, I think we were at some sort of sporting event. Sitting in the bleachers, out of the blue, I turned to my college-aged daughters and dropped the bomb.

“I think I’m going to get one of those Instagrams so your mother and I can start sexting.”

Shock. Horror. Confusion.

They knew my sense of humor. They knew that I would never commit my pale nekked body to digital (or any other) photography. They knew that I just wanted to get a rise out of them. THEY KNEW.

Still, one of them couldn’t resist:

“But that’s…

Rule by executive order isn’t as easy as it sounds.

It took six days after the inauguration for a judge to issue the first national injunctions against a Biden administration executive order. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump-appointee out of Texas, held up a Biden order pausing deportation. Those on the American left decry this as a partisan attack on the new administration; those on the right point to the weaponization of national injunctions by Democrat-appointed judges during the Trump administration to hamstring a president they loathed.

More broadly, though, such injunctions are a corrective tactic in the back-and-forth struggle between the branches. Biden, and before him Trump and…

And no, I’m not a New-Age nutter.

Over twenty years ago, when I first introduced my wife to my parents, my dad asked about her birthday. Then he narrowed his eyes. In his most sage, wise-man voice, he peered at my fiance and gave his verdict.

“Ah, an Aquarius. They’re known to be compulsive liars.”

My wife was mortified. Later that night, one of my friends finally let her know that my dad gave that same response to everyone, regardless of their sign. It was his idea of humor. I shrugged. My dad was a Scorpio, and that’s just how they roll.

My dad was an avid…

Cicero, reluctant father figure.

I took my new wife and two new young daughters to the Humane Society for a kitten. They played with a cute black fuzzball in the meeting room, but he cried for his brother. Inevitably, we took home two tiny, fuzzy kittens, midnight black with white medallions on their chests. Cicero grew up loud and vocal; Rascal, the leader, had tiny mew. Cicero’s fur was a little silkier, Rascal’s was drier, and Cicero’s medallion was much more distinct.

Soon we added two dogs to the family. Rascal ruled the house; Cicero and the dogs followed his rules. When he passed…

Will the lockdown states explode?

My 94-year-old mother can’t get the vaccine. At least a dozen residents at her facility have become infected and around half died. The facility she lives in was working in good faith to get on-site vaccination for their residents, but they couldn’t get it done. It turns out that an “Active Living Facility” isn’t prioritized like a “Nursing Home” or an “Assisted Living Facility,” notwithstanding that a large number of septuagenarians and octagenarians that live there receive living assistance. My mom is now on the county waiting list.

A family friend is in the ICU. He gets better and he…

I thought we had something special.

Cheap tacos from an indy competitor were my gateway item. Sitting at my desk as a high school senior, I watched the clock tick towards dismissal. When the bell came, I skipped my locker and sprinted for my car. When you’re ordering 40 tacos for yourself and your friends, you have to be first in the drive-through.

Then, the unthinkable happened. The knock-off raised their prices. Once the prices were the same anyway, Taco Bell became our go-to. A whole new world had opened up. Something special blossomed and we started a decades-long journey together.

I’ve flirted with other taco-based…

Whatever happened to…

For Star Trek fans, we’re living in a new age of glory. There are no less than four series in production: Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, and the recently announced Strange New Worlds which will feature Captain Christopher Pike’s Enterprise.

The new spate of series has no problems revisiting old situations and characters. Picard brought in Seven of Nine, William Riker, Deanna Troi, Data, and made minor character Hugh into a major character. Discovery tapped into Captain Pike, the original Number One, and Spock, and even minor characters like Harry Mudd.

Lower Decks stuffs cameos into every episode, from revisiting the…

At least probably, mostly legit.

Detroit is an easy city for conservatives (and everyone else) to hate. It brings together all the negative urban stereotypes and makes them real in one place. Out of control crime plagues the city. The school system has been a slow-motion trainwreck for decades. City corruption is legendary; just seven years ago former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick went to jail for 24 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering.

In addition to the general environment of crime, corruption, and decay, the 2016 election was rife with problems in the city of Detroit. Initial reports showed more ballots than voters in…