"Those aren't pillows!" - Neil Page, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"
The game of Farkle goes back in our family for almost 30 years. While no one knows the true origin of the game (in the world, not just in our family), the name Farkle didn’t even come into being until 1982. My Grandma and Grandpa Murphy brought the game to the family when they learned it from a group of friends with whom they often played cards. At the time, we just called it the dice game. Read the rest of this entry »
Chris had been to Siena, Italy before, but the last time he had taken a train from Florence. For our adventure destination on Thursday, May 14, this time he suggested that we might take the bus. Much cheaper, and actually would deliver us there faster. Siena was a much more ‘traditional’ Tuscan town, nestled in the hilltops about 75 kilometers south of Florence. The first bus out that morning wasn’t until 9:40am, so we didn’t have to get up too ungodly early. We set out on foot at about 8:50 and walked to the bus station, where I had a clandestine meeting with a salame toscano.
…And she certainly wasn’t the first. Back in the mid-nineties, I used to hear it on a weekly basis it seemed. Having high public exposure when I worked at Kroger, customers galore would often tell me of my resemblance to Kiefer, some concerned that I might actually be a vampire as he was in The Lost Boys. But the first and only celebrity to date to tell me that I looked like Kiefer Sutherland was Erin Gray when I met her at the Hollywood Collectors Show in California during my Summer visit of 1997. Read the rest of this entry »
If I were to ask the average person to tell me everything they knew about President Grover Cleveland, the most common answer would probably be that he was the guy who was President – twice! Yes, Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, the first being from 1885-89 (the 22nd President) and then from 1893-97 (the 24th President) – confusing everyone up to and including President Barack Obama as to the actual count of the number of Presidents who have served our country. That’s right…one term wasn’t good enough for this guy. Read the rest of this entry »
Do you have any idea what you might say if you were to meet the very last American survivor of World War 1? Well, I can tell you exactly what I said during my face-to-face encounter with him – and I can tell you that it wasn’t a heck of a lot. Mostly I just sat there and stared in wide-eyed wonderment, basking in the unparalleled honor of meeting Frank Buckles, a 108-year old veteran of the First World War. In the entire world – at this particular time – only five men who had served in this war still survived; and Frank Buckles was the only survivor who served the United States. Mr. Buckles is and will always be the last American doughboy. Read the rest of this entry »