The Human side of Humanity

 Good day readers.  I hope all is well as we enter the "Holiday Season" here in the USA.  Once upon a time the American traditional Thanksgiving was my absolute favorite holiday.  I don't really have a favorite anymore.  Little known fact outside my social circle; Answerman likes to cook.  I hosted Thanksgiving several times until my Mom wanted to take it back when I was in graduate school a few years ago.  There is always much to be grateful for in the world.  My friends, most of my family....Yes I have one of those families.  Some can't agree to disagree, which is why I like dogs.  Dogs are rarely disagreeable and always grateful.  My all time favorite dog was Piper.  A high energy West Highland Terrier (Westie) that we rescued when he was one and had been in an abusive home. Piper didn't always like me- he had issues with men, because that was who abused him, but we became best buddies.  Piper stayed with us for 14 yea...

 Good day readers and followers.  Welcome back!! Here in Questionopolis it is the first day of school for my little question mark- 6th grade granddaughter, Bella- so that is an appropriate statement for the day.  Last month, exactly 365 days from the day that I traveled to Lake Erie, in Erie, PA with my good friend John, we went back.  We went back for a couple of reasons.  The original reason from 2020 was to go fishing and hiking.  The main target fish was Walleye, but in the great lakes there are Steelhead, Salmon, Perch among others.  Last year there was no fishing. I found more ways to find parking around downtown Erie than to get to the lake, which is tough to do since a great lake is really more like a small ocean that is surrounded by land.  There are waves and tidal flows...but I digress. One year later.  So much has changed- all good. This year we arrived for our 6 am excursion to nearly 30 boats lined up to launch from the Walnut C...

 Good day readers and followers, Yes, once again I've let a few months pass between posts.  Covid months- a pandemic draw.  Well here in Questionopololis we are now unmasked.  The pandemic is almost past.  I wasn't vacillating about getting vaccinated.  Nope, stepped right up as soon as those in option12-J or whatever, when eligible, and let them stick me both times.  Done over a month ago!  I feel free- I hope you do too.  What's been going on?  Thanks for asking.  I'm presenting this mask free.  As many of you know my home town of Questionopolis is a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia.  Yes, Philly.  Truth be told I am a Philadelphian -and with great pride, even though I only lived there for about 20% of my life.  This brings me to a story about a show about a fictitious town.  Former local writer-producer Martin Inglesby's great mini-series Mare of Easttown just wrapped up its run on TV.  Captivating,...

 Good day readers and followers.  Pandemic depression has gotten many of us down.  I like to laugh and as my friends know, when I do it registers on the Richter scale.  I'm neither shy nor embarrassed by it.  One former colleague infamously said that I should laugh "quieter" especially on a date or I would scare the woman away.  Whatever.  I'm loud, boisterous and sarcastic.  Here in 2021 I have started piecing together excerpts from my former blog that was called E-Dating and the New Reality.  As I mentioned last week, while the e-dating reality wasn't much fun at the time, it sure was better than putting on a mask and walking around with hand sanitizer.  Most of us couldn't even imagine dating anyone right now.  However, in reading back some of those pieces from the blog I ended four years ago made me laugh out loud.  Sometimes at my own expense.  I am sharing some excerpts that others enjoyed all the way back in 2016-17...

Once upon time I did an evaluation of two different groups in the spectrum of people that reach a certain age, look in the mirror an wonder. So in my retrospective mood we will take a travel back in time.  They wonder about how they have arrived at this point in their lives and how to change it.  Usually they want to change it in a hurry, but life doesn't work that way for most of us.  Both arrive looking for someone to share time, a mate, a date, significant other-whatever you want to call them.  The Always-Been-Single (ABSs) crowd are a curious bunch, particularly those in their mid to late 40's or 50's.  This can be a point of wonderment or concern.  The ABS crew is not for me. I have a preference for someone who has been married, whether divorced or unfortunately widowed.  Additionally, someone who has children.  I am not alone in that preference amongst my now divorced or widowed crowd. We are the DWC's (Divorced/Widowed w Children). The life...

Good day readers and followers.  Here we are in 2021.  Year two of the pandemic has officially started here in the USA.  Masks, staying apart...far apart.  Yes, here we are staying far apart and I am still single. STIILLLLLLL single.  I used to write a blog about my dating travails, mostly on the challenges of e-dating.  Now virtual dating would be almost the only thing I would want to do.  I was able to go back and look at some of what challenged me and made my readers laugh. The fun part was reading what the actual reality was before the lockdown, the six-feet-apart, wear your mask, wash your hands reality.  The blog was called E-dating and the New Reality.  Looking back, I would love that to be the current reality. Around Christmastime back in 2016 I wrote a piece that could not happen now.  There is almost no indoor dining, no hanging out-and I wouldn't want to anyway. I wrote an observational piece that had the word breast in the ti...

 Hello my followers and readers, 'tis a sad day to be writing for the first time in the new year.  In 2021.  As 2020 faded and ended with the release and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines the world seemed to be on an upswing.  Here in the USA, there was still much turmoil around the President and many of his supporters who would not accept the fact that he lost the election.  The danger in his  histrionic behavior was apparent to many free thinking intelligent people- so many of whom had supported him in the past or voted for him. In full disclosure, I am not one of them.  As I've mentioned in so many other pieces, the US is hamstrung by an outdated thought process that we must really limit ourselves to only two political parties. While I freely admit to being a member of the US Republican party, I would prefer to be independent except that it would take away my privilege to participate in the primary elections on every level.  Vote for everything...