Year End Review

I sit here on December 19th, and as so many others do this time of year, I am taking stock. Wins. Losses. Things I’m grateful for. Things I wish had gone better. The question I ask myself: did I make this world a better place this year? I might be one of very few Americans…

The Power to Make Things Better, or Make Them Worse

I have spent a good part of my weekend thinking about social responsibility; duty to my family, my community, my state, my country, humanity as a whole. I think it’s in part due to the local politicians who knock on my door asking me why my concerns are, how am I troubled by what is…

Fourth of July 2021

On this fourth of July I know more than I did the last time we celebrated it…that is, before the pandemic.   During the pandemic, libraries were closed along with everything else, and I had to read what there was in the house.  What there were lots of in the house were biographies of U.S. Presidents. …

Not my America

I work in Hartford two days a week. For those familiar with the city, I get off I-84E at the Capitol Avenue exit and then wind my way past the Capitol building and by the Courthouse before heading toward Hartford Hospital. I drove in on Monday, January 18th, and was absolutely shocked to see the…

Writing through the news cycle

It seems like every day something new and horrible eclipses something else that is still horrible, but slightly less new. I can't keep track of a pandemic, a sick president, a supreme court nominee fight, California wildfires, presidential debates, white supremacist militias, and kidnapping plots on top of work, home remodeling, and life. Everything is…

Hope and Cabin Fever–Plus some free books.

These are terrible times. We are seeing humanity at its dumbest (stay home, people!) and its cruelest (hoarding without regard for others). Our leaders are failing us and increasing the risk to our lives by putting corporate greed over the health and safety of their constituents. Yet, some businesses are taking it upon themselves to…

On Outbreaks

Disclaimer: I don't usually share with people my education, especially on a blog.  And when I do, I try not to go into great detail.  However, with regards to the current situation, I feel that my credentials do matter.  I have a Master's in Biology with a concentration in Public Health and a PhD in…

Into Silence

My first active shooter drill was in 2001.  I was a junior in high school.  Columbine had happened two years previous and shaken us out of our complacency.  We hid in the corner of a classroom, lumped together. One kid commented how this meant the shooter didn't have to aim.  He got suspended. We learned…