The Crotchety Old Man

Category: Friends

  • Traumatized

    Someone very near and dear is dealing with serious addiction issues. Since this time last year, I’ve watched his life spin out of control. A month ago, the shit hit the fan. I first got concerned about a year ago. He was late for a dinner date by several hours and hadn’t called or anything. When…

  • My Best Friend

    According to wikipedia, a friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between two or more people. That casts a pretty wide net. I’m fond of a whole lot of people. Lucky for me, some of them feel the same way about me. By definition, that makes us friends. I’m grateful for each and every one of them. Many…

  • A Crotchety Christmas

    A Crotchety Christmas

    Christmas is a very special time of year. Competing with the grandeur and spectacle of the yuletide celebration is a tall order. No other holiday celebration even comes close to the month-long festival of parades, television specials, religious services, community events, parties, dinners, and gift exchanges taking place in the Christmas season. Bah humbug! I’m over…

  • Social Network Fatigue

    Once upon a time, the only social networking options were snail-mail, rotary dial telephones, and face-to-face. Travel costs and long distance telephone charges made letters the preferred means for keeping up with out-of-town friends and family. When not in class or hanging out with local friends, I spent hours on the telephone talking with them. Yeah.…

  • Priorities

    My father taught me anything worth doing is worth doing well. Of course, he never actually used those words. Instead, he’d berate me for being half-assed. Thanks to this early training (or an undiagnosed personality disorder), I don’t do things by halves. Nope. Not me. I’m whole ass or not at all. Insecurity nourishes my obsessive tendencies. To compensate for…

  • RainbowCon 2014

    My first gig as a featured author at a conference took place last month in Tampa. Back in October I dropped by a similar event — the Gay Romance Literature retreat (GRL) in Atlanta — to scope things out. Meeting and hanging out with publishers, reviewers, readers, and other writers was great fun!  I heard about RainbowCon and, rather…

  • The Swag’s the Thing

    I’ve attended numerous academic conferences over the last three decades in connection with my day job. But before last year, I’d never attended any kind of Con. When I heard the 2013 Gay Romance Literature Retreat would be in nearby Atlanta, I had to go. One glance and I knew GayRomLit would be nothing like the…

  • An Update on My Healthy Lifestyle

    Two years ago, because the monthly membership fee was cheaper than paying by the class for Zumba, I joined a gym. To make sure I didn’t pay for something I never used, I got the most expensive plan available. Having never set foot in a weight room in my life, I figured the weekly sessions…

  • GayRomLit: A Virgin’s Tale (Part 2: Thursday)

    Last Monday, I wrote about my preparations for GayRomLit in Atlanta. Today’s post picks up with Thursday morning — the first full day of the retreat — before I really knew what I’d gotten myself into. What an experience! First thing Thursday morning, the organizers offered an orientation session for newcomers. All the newbies got cherries…