Chris Rodell's Blog, page 89
January 5, 2015
"Why I now accept donations" or "Well, duh!"
(760 words)
I didn’t tell anyone I’d written a single blog until I’d already written and posted 50 of the suckers. That was way back in ’08.
I wanted to have something browse-worthy so if someone liked one, they could go back and read a bunch. I wasn’t interested readers.
I wanted addicts.
Blogging’s taught me I’m a real writer.
This is more surprising than it seems.
See,
I didn’t tell anyone I’d written a single blog until I’d already written and posted 50 of the suckers. That was way back in ’08.
I wanted to have something browse-worthy so if someone liked one, they could go back and read a bunch. I wasn’t interested readers.
I wanted addicts.
Blogging’s taught me I’m a real writer.
This is more surprising than it seems.
See,
January 2, 2015
Humanity's resolution: opine less, compliment more
(629 words)
The deluge of resolutions are flooding the national psyche: Lose weight. Get a new job. Spend more quality time with the kids.
All are aimed at making individuals and the world itself a better place.
As that’s what I’m all about, let me offer humanity a collective resolution that will do wonders to improve our each and every day:
Preempt every outloud opinion with a
The deluge of resolutions are flooding the national psyche: Lose weight. Get a new job. Spend more quality time with the kids.
All are aimed at making individuals and the world itself a better place.
As that’s what I’m all about, let me offer humanity a collective resolution that will do wonders to improve our each and every day:
Preempt every outloud opinion with a
December 31, 2014
Best tweets of 2014
Happy New Year! Thanks for checking in. You can follow my daily tweets here @8days2Amish.com.
• If our bodies are, indeed, temples then how come everything that comes out of them is so disgusting?
• A sordid affair is 2 people engaged in illicit behavior. Two people busted before they can start having any naughty fun is a sordud one.
• Someday I’m going to enter a house with a “
• If our bodies are, indeed, temples then how come everything that comes out of them is so disgusting?
• A sordid affair is 2 people engaged in illicit behavior. Two people busted before they can start having any naughty fun is a sordud one.
• Someday I’m going to enter a house with a “
Tweets of the months & what I think that @PiedPiper has more followers than me
I guess it shouldn’t come as any surprise, but @PiedPiper has about 10 times more followers than @8days2amish.
I know what you’re thinking. I’m thinking it, too.
Rats.
• I wonder if alpha walruses every get into beach shoving matches shouting, "I am the walrus!" "No, I am the walrus!” #CooCooKaChu
• I wish more black and white people would stop looking at all race issues
I know what you’re thinking. I’m thinking it, too.
Rats.
• I wonder if alpha walruses every get into beach shoving matches shouting, "I am the walrus!" "No, I am the walrus!” #CooCooKaChu
• I wish more black and white people would stop looking at all race issues
December 30, 2014
Blog year in review: 36 "best" to share with friends
This is the time of year when it’s customary for traditional media outlets to publish Top 10 best/worst of lists.
The official “Eight Days To Amish” 2014 list touts 36 of the 230 essays I’ve posted throughout the year.
Why 36?
Because 10 is way too few and 230 would have taken way too long. Really, I think they’re all worthy.
I think eventually I’ll look back on 2014 as the year I
The official “Eight Days To Amish” 2014 list touts 36 of the 230 essays I’ve posted throughout the year.
Why 36?
Because 10 is way too few and 230 would have taken way too long. Really, I think they’re all worthy.
I think eventually I’ll look back on 2014 as the year I
December 28, 2014
Sunday encore! "Ahoy, Heisenberg!" When "Breaking Bad" collides with "Love Boat"
“Breaking Bad” marathon on today. Here’s the ’13 story about the night when our favorite show got swamped by, yep, “The Love Boat!” Come aboard, they're expecting you! Such great campy fun.
900 words
It was 9 p.m. Sunday and Val and I were sitting down to watch the fourth to last episode of “Breaking Bad,” the AMC show that is dividing America.
The half of us who are watching can’t
900 words
It was 9 p.m. Sunday and Val and I were sitting down to watch the fourth to last episode of “Breaking Bad,” the AMC show that is dividing America.
The half of us who are watching can’t
December 24, 2014
At Christmas, wondering about the Teenage Jesus
(685 words)
This is the season when Christian believers celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus. I love the idea that God incarnate came to earth, not as a fully formed King or warrior, but in our most vulnerable and precious form.
It’s such a joyful counterpoint to the crucifixion.
What chagrins me is the biographical void of all those years in between. We know almost nothing about
This is the season when Christian believers celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus. I love the idea that God incarnate came to earth, not as a fully formed King or warrior, but in our most vulnerable and precious form.
It’s such a joyful counterpoint to the crucifixion.
What chagrins me is the biographical void of all those years in between. We know almost nothing about
December 22, 2014
And so this is Christmas (Part II); War is NOT over
(691 words)
Because “The Hundred Years’ War” lasted from 1337 through 1453, I’m proposing historians rename it either “The 116 Years War” or “The Most Inaccurately Named War.”
Didn’t anyone on either side say after about 70 or 80 years they should just title it “The War No One Will Remember Because it Just Sort of Ended in a Confusing Draw War?”
I mention all this because I saw an
Because “The Hundred Years’ War” lasted from 1337 through 1453, I’m proposing historians rename it either “The 116 Years War” or “The Most Inaccurately Named War.”
Didn’t anyone on either side say after about 70 or 80 years they should just title it “The War No One Will Remember Because it Just Sort of Ended in a Confusing Draw War?”
I mention all this because I saw an
December 21, 2014
A heartwarming tale of Christmas Woe ... A holiday tradition
This is the story of one of the worst nights of my life. I like to share it with you over the holidays because, gee, a lot of people enjoy hearing about how someone else’s misery. I guess it’s just human nature. I’m happy to play my role in brightening your holiday by darkening mine.
I was in the concluding hours of one of those low-grade bad days. Stuck in traffic, work unproductive,
I was in the concluding hours of one of those low-grade bad days. Stuck in traffic, work unproductive,
December 19, 2014
The Pond is for sale! Anyone wanna buy a bar?
(732 words)
Still stumped for that perfect gift for that very special someone? How about a family tavern with three apartments, dozens of devoted inebriates and 60 years of small town memories?
There. That ought to really stuff your stocking.
Alas, The Pond is for sale.
A steadfast Latrobe landmark since 1954 can be yours for right around $350,000.
So it’s conceivable that this
Still stumped for that perfect gift for that very special someone? How about a family tavern with three apartments, dozens of devoted inebriates and 60 years of small town memories?
There. That ought to really stuff your stocking.
Alas, The Pond is for sale.
A steadfast Latrobe landmark since 1954 can be yours for right around $350,000.
So it’s conceivable that this
