Years of tending bar in Key West has made it a habit of mine to ask people where they are from not long after they settle into their bar stools. This is a habit that has been a hard one to temper over the last several months. It isn’t necessarily a bad way to start… Continue reading May 2, 2016

I never did write a blog about that jackass from Harrisburg who sat at a dirty bar spot and then demanded service, to the point where he trashed my friend and co-worker simply for doing his job. Truth is if I had a dollar for every blog I was going/supposed/had to write I’d be a… Continue reading April 21, 2016

I turn 21 today. Now I know what many of you may be thinking. “Ummm, I’m pretty sure you passed that milestone years back.” Some of you may even have known me for more than 21 years. Yes, that is all true. Think of it not as an actual 21st birthday, but more of a… Continue reading April 9, 2016

I was just outside raking a friend’s garden and no, that’s no a euphemism for anything. I’m at a friend’s house, I went outside got her rake and started raking her garden. Not really sure why I did it; certainly it’s not because I’m a nice guy. I guess it’s because I knew it needed… Continue reading March 25, 2016

In a lifetime full of saying odd things, this may just be the oddest: The subway station smelled like piss this morning, and I realized I kind of missed that. (A couple of things to clear up before I continue. First of all, that is not the opening statement in a blog that will reveal… Continue reading March 14, 2016

You can never stand in the same river twice. I don’t think you can live in the same city twice as well. Between the late summer of 1990 and the end of 2003, a span of just over 13 years, I lived in NYC for a total of more than 6 years, basically half of… Continue reading March 7, 2016

The escalator giveth and the subway taketh away. It’s been a long time since I lived in the city, and it is not the city I used to live in 17 and 25 years ago just like I am not the guy who lived in it back at those times. So I’m trying to find… Continue reading January 11, 2016

My kitchen is conspiring to distract me. I’m not talking about making me want to stop what I’m doing, head in there and stuff my face. That’s impossible right now anyway, unless said face stuffing is going to happen with crackers and mayonnaise. No, the distraction comes in the form of noises, noise that shouldn’t… Continue reading January 5th, 2016

It was 9:20 on a Sunday morning when I got up. I know this might not seem like a big deal to many of you, but many of you aren’t bartenders. I’m lucky enough to not work at a 4:00am bar, but I still work late. (“Shift work” I believe Alan Jackson called it.) Add… Continue reading January 3, 2016

When I was a kid (unlike the mature adult I’ve grown into) my mom used to boil me a couple of hot dogs on Thanksgiving. My dad used to lose his mind. With all my mom was already cooking, why would she put an extra pot on the stove and make the effort? Mom’s theory… Continue reading November 26, 2015