Tracking Down “The Song That Wasn’t” (Hyundai Tucson Commercial)

Getting a song stuck in my head drives me crazy. When I can’t remember where I know the song from, it drives me even more crazy. And when I can’t figure out the name or the song or who the artist is, it drives me absolutely bonkers! I mostly watch television these days on my computer, either using DirecTV Stream or one of a few video streaming apps (like Pluto). These streaming solutions have commercials just like regular cable television, but they seem to have a smaller stable of commercials meaning I end up seeing the same ones over and… (read more)

A Cold Halloween in 2023

For Halloween in 2002, when Mason was only ten months old, Susan and I dressed him up in a costume (Tigger, I think) and took him “trick-or-treating” at the homes of our friends and family. For the past twenty years our Halloweens have revolved around celebrating with one or both of our children. Now that the kids have moved out into their own place, Halloween felt a little… empty this year. Susan spent two weeks of October being sick before finally passing her cold on to me. We’re feeling better now, but neither of us were feeling great during peak… (read more)

Experiencing a Partial Eclipse

Ah, eclipses. There was a time in our history when eclipses were explained as the work or sorcerers, mythical creatures eating the sun, or religious miracles. Today we know exactly what eclipses are and how they work, but they are still interesting to watch and slightly disorienting to experience. And less terrifying than thinking a giant dragon has eaten the sun. Last weekend’s eclipse was not a total solar eclipse for those of us in Oklahoma. Here, we experienced a 70-80% blockage of the sun for a short period of time. The peak viewing time was just after 11 a.m.… (read more)

Ordering from Temu for the First Time

A couple of months ago I began seeing advertisements for a new website named Temu. Seemingly overnight I went from never hearing of Temu to seeing 20 Temu ads or more a day on Facebook and Instagram among other websites. You may have seen those ads too and wondered if Temu is a legitimate company. I decided to take a chance and find out. Temu is similar in structure to another retailer you may (or may not) have heard of, AliExpress. Temu is a Chinese-owned company that is registered in the Cayman Islands, has a physical headquarters in Boston, and… (read more)

That Time I Almost Choked to Death at a Mexican Resort

Mr. Sancho’s is a all-exclusive resort located just a few miles from the port in Cozumel. It is not, like Chankanaab, an officially sponsored Carnival excursion, meaning you have to make your own reservations and arrange your own transportation to and from the resort. It also means that it’s nowhere near as crowded as Chankanaab. Transportation comes in the form of a taxi, and reservations are easily made online. Admission is $65/adult for the entire day, which includes all the food you can eat and all the drinks you can drink. More drinks than you should probably consume, in fact.… (read more)

A Relaxing Swim, or a Portal to Hell? Visiting a Mexican Cenote

As the four of us make our way down the overgrown path toward the cenote — Spanish for “sinkhole” and pronounced “sih-NO-tay” — I could not come up with a way to describe the experience that did not sound like the plot of a horror movie. With no cell phone reception or any real idea of where we were, the four of us followed our tour guide until we reached a rickety set of steps leading us down into a dark hole in the ground, where we planned to swim for the next hour. Underneath the Yucatan peninsula lie a… (read more)

Uxmal and the Pyramid of the Magician

Last week, I, Susan, and our friends Jeff and Heather got to spend some time exploring Uxmal (oosh-MALL), an ancient Maya city and home of the Pyramid of the Magician. Uxmal is not one of Carnival’s typical excursion packages; to get there, Susan arranged for a local tour guide to pick us up at the edge of Progresso and take us to the ruins. Uxmal is located approximately 75 miles (115km) south of the port at Progresso. The most direct route takes you through Merida, the capitol of Yucatan. Along the way, our guide (Daniel) took us through a few… (read more)

Visiting the Texas Killing Fields

There’s a stretch of land in southern Texas known as the Texas Killing Fields. The 25 acres of land, located near I-45 in League City, came by its name honestly. Dating back to the 1970s, dozens of corpses have been recovered from the area — almost all of them women between the ages of 12 and 25. No one knows if the murders are related because most of the murders have ever been solved. While it’s highly unlikely that all of the murders are related it is believed at least some of them are, which means this single wooded area… (read more)

Camping at the Drive-in: A Birthday Adventure!

For my past few birthdays, Susan has planned little trips and surprised me every single time. Susan is good at planning things and surprising me and I am good at being surprised, so it all works out. Last Friday Susan asked me to pack an overnight bag and prepare for a fun overnight adventure, and I did. Shortly before our departure, Susan filled me in on what she had planned: an overnight stay at an AirBnB trailer located at the Tee Pee Drive-in in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, right off of Route 66. She also said several of our friends would be… (read more)

Paul Reubens Passed Away; Pee-wee Herman Lives On

Last week, Pee-wee Herman died. Of course what I mean by that is that Paul Reubens, the actor who portrayed the character Pee-wee Herman, passed away. Reubens was 70 years old, and passed away after a six year battle with cancer. For many people, Paul Reubens was inseparable from Pee-wee Herman. Even when he appeared in other films portraying different characters, people rarely asked, “is that Paul Reubens?” Instead, they asked, “is that Pee-wee Herman?” As I recently mentioned on Instagram, I was twelve years old and about to enter seventh grade when Pee-wee’s Big Adventure was released in the… (read more)

.xX[ MY INFO/LINKS ]Xx.

My EMAIL
My RSS FEED
My SUBSCRIPTION (Blog)
My Twitter
My YouTube

My Books
My Portfolio
My Podcasts
Review-O-Matic (Reviews)

.xX[ SUB-PAGES ]Xx.

My ARCADE GAMES
My SOFTWARE
My PHOTO GALLERY
My WRITING ADVICE
Every CAR I'VE OWNED
Every STATE I'VE VISITED

Latest Tweets