Just be what you are: June 26

Whatever the “hydrating beauty bars” were, I assumed they must be Suzi’s as I reached around them to grab a lens wipe for my glasses.

Other than something called Verb that shows up at our door every so often — I’m guessing it has the market just about cornered on part-of-speech-based hair products — I don’t pay much attention to what she uses in the shower.

As for me, I’m a simple man. I use basic shampoo and soap.

Twitter travelogue: June 19

Let’s see how many of these I’ve done.

Oh yes, definitely that one … two … three … uh, yeah … five … six …

… seven … eight …nine … 10 … 11 … 12 …

… 13 … 14 … 15 … 16 … 17.

Such a missed opportunity

I should find more podcasts to listen to.

As long as they’re around an hour, they can get me through most if not all of my drive home, and I don’t have to fiddle with my music or the shows on the radio if what’s playing doesn’t do it for me right then.

I can just ride and enjoy.

Switzerland, here we come! (Not now, but soon): June 12

I don’t believe in the power of positive thinking, and the less I say about “manifesting,” the better off we’ll all be.

So when Suzi and I decided that this probably wasn’t the year to go to Switzerland, neither of us were completely happy, but that was how it was going to be.

So this is 50

My in-laws sent me a card with all the great things about being 50.

It’s basically a poem that starts with 50 being “fierce” and “strong” and “awesome as ever.” It rhymes its way through 50 being “wise and bravehearted” and “50’s discovery” and “50’s on top.”

On my own

Right from the start, I want to make it clear that I do know how to make hamburgers and French fries.

On a scale where “even I can do it” is considered the definition of a simple job, burgers and fries are at the easy end of that scale. Just put the burgers on the grill and toss the fries in hot oil (well, not literally, unless you like grease burns).

When everything is done, put the burger on a bun, load up everything with ketchup and enjoy.

Nothing to it.

I have documents, therefore I am: May 22

I renewed my driver’s license, ensuring that I can drive legally for the next five years and avoiding a potential awkward travel moment.

It was easy enough. I have no idea where the nearest Registry of Motor Vehicles office is, but the AAA in town also handles license renewals and is open on the weekend, so I made the first appointment and was in and out in less than 15 minutes.

Uh oh … problem

A light came on in my car. That always makes me nervous.

Actually, I get nervous whenever something isn’t working properly, but when it’s the car, I immediately start thinking about contingency commuting plans if something is seriously wrong, plus I worry that any solutions will be expensive.

Plus, I’d have no idea how to fix it.

That was how long ago?

“You know it’s snowing here, right?”

That was my brother, calling me on a not-delightful-at-all May morning (yes, May, the 18th to be exact), wondering if he should still meet Suzi, me and her parents for our planned trip to Yankee Stadium.

I was aware that it was snowing where he lived, but that near our hometown, up on the hill. Outside of Albany where we lived, it was cold — especially since, as I mentioned before, it was May 18 — but it was just raining.

A random funny story about volleyball

I’ve never read “Slaughterhouse-Five,” but I recently saw a reference, so for the completely out-of-context purpose of this story (since it’s about the furthest thing possible from war), let’s just say “All this happened, more or less.”

Volleyball at Chuck’s house — the usual time, the usual place, the usual players.

For some reason that even my unreliable narrator won’t try to guess, someone made a reference to “The Bridges of Madison County.”