1/18/2021 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 32 “The T-Bird Talon” By Bruce Williams My dream of a writing career began early, in high school, as I applied with a buddy of mine to get on the staff of the school’s newspaper at the end of our sophomore year.  Being a legacy (my older sister…

1/11/2021 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 30 “Goodbye Old Friend” By Bruce Williams Tragedy struck our house on New Year’s Eve.  Our dog, Ruby—an overweight and mischievous beagle of 8.5 years—got out of a hole in the fence into our neighbor’s yard and subsequently out of their back fence onto a busy roadway below…

1/4/2021 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 29 “The Dump” By Bruce Williams I’m not sure what it is about going to the dump that I love so much, but it’s a multi-faceted, multi-layered history that I feel compelled to elucidate.  My first experiences with the dump came as a child at what was known…

12/28/2020 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 28 “ B-U-T-T” (I promise) By Bruce Williams My two sisters and I all took piano lessons at our instructor Mai Lin’s house.  I hated it.  While one sibling was in with Mai Lin, plinking away as she patiently winced at each misstruck key, I and one of…

12/21/2020 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 27 “The Magic of Christmas” By Bruce Williams Christmas was always magical when I was a little kid.  My older sister Lisa was always the first one up on Christmas morning—usually around a roostery 5:00 a.m.  She’d head down and empty her stocking and the little open box…

12/14/2020 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 26 “My Top 5 Christmas Movies” By Bruce Williams Narrowing it down to just five favorite Christmas movies might seem easy on its surface, but when other people started weighing in convincingly with their opinions and picks, I had to stop and ponder it a little bit.  I…

12/7/2020 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 26 “How the ’80’s Wrecked ’70’s Rock Bands” By Bruce Williams My wife and I have this ongoing debate—she loves all things ‘80’s; the movies (The Goonies, Adventures in Babysitting), the music, all the cheesy schlock.  I berate the pastel colors, the big hair, the leg warmers, the…

11/30/2020 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 25 “Ads Shmads” By Bruce Williams I’m convinced corporate America doesn’t understand social media.  For instance, Crest has a Facebook page.  The toothpaste.  What more could you possibly want to know about Crest?  You put it on your tooth brush and smoosh it across your teeth.  Then you…

11/23/2020 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 24 “Puberty” By Bruce Williams Puberty has come unbeckoned to the Williams household in the form of greasy hair, pimples and body odor.  Now 14 and 11, our kids are becoming these alternating mercurial and sullen strangers, eaters of entire pizzas and capable of storming out of the…

11/16/2020 “That Got Me To Thinkin’…?” Chapter 23 “Our House” By Bruce Williams So, we’re putting our house of 15 years up for sale—cleaning out every cobwebbed corner, dejunking every drawer, steaming carpets, puttying screw holes and the like.  It’s so clean and like-new now that I’d almost like to live there again.  If the…