From my wife’s ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, to those who fought in the Civil War. From my grandfather in Britain in WW1, to my cousins in North Africa in WW2, to my father during the Korean conflict, my father-in-law in Southeast Asia, my uncle and cousins in Vietnam, my brother-in-law in the…
It’s that time of year when my loved ones remind me just how little they know about me: my birthday. “What do you want for your birthday?” they ask. “How could you not know?” I respond. It’s obvious! I want this book, or that gadget, or a new piece of cookware, or whatever. Except I…
Marriage, like anything worth having in life, takes work and luck and patience and forgiveness and more luck and, if you believe in that sort of thing, more than a little grace. It’s a life’s work and it’s never perfect, except for the times when it is, hopefully more often than not. Marriage is like parenting is like life: magnificent/difficult/wonderful/horrible/sanctifying. Our very presence in each other’s lives helps us strive to be the best versions of ourselves. I believe it should be available to everyone, but that’s probably a different post. I am so thankful for the circumstances that put…
We go through a lot of maple syrup All else being equal, my children’s default state is “fighting” Every morning, the fucking city plows another foot of snow onto the apron of my driveway and crushes my will to live Podcasts are more enjoyable while commuting We are filthy people There is, in fact, a limit to how much coffee I can drink Time, it turns out, is not the issue; it’s attention Everything that happens in The Shining makes much more sense to me now
It doesn’t matter how old you are. It doesn’t matter what other people tell you. If you can find some courage (in yourself) and some faith (in anything) and some perspective (it’s not that big a deal) and some kindness (always be the nicest person in the room) you can make things happen that will amaze people. This is what I’ve learned from my mother. Not just in the past month, but my whole life. There’s a reason my people pay attention to “Auntie Kay.”
For years—perhaps decades—my dad would walk to the flagship Kroch’s and Brentano’s store on South Wabash on Chicago, spending his lunch hour among the famously knowledgeable booksellers and the then-amazing array of inventory. I only remember being in that downtown store once or twice, but the mall Kroch’s and Brentano’s in the town where I grew up was a key setting in my childhood love of reading. We went to the mall almost every night. If I wasn’t scanning the skies for Soviet bombers or taping Top 40 songs off the boombox, I was likely one of three places: the…
I attended a little liberal arts college in Wisconsin, where we well-off kids were dipped into a fantasy island of hippie liberalism in the middle of a devastated post-industrial blue-collar town. We had to stick together or intoxicate ourselves out of our minds to keep the consensual reality held together, and generally it worked pretty well. I’ll assume there are plenty of inside jokes and camaraderie at your alma mater. But I had no idea what a funny little cult that Beloit College comprised until a few weeks ago, when someone created a wonderful variation on one of those horrible…
My daughter claims she wants to be an artist, and decided (all on her own) that she wanted to create a museum featuring her favorite "cruisers" (her word for art projects) that she had made in the past year. So she went through the archives, selected a bunch of her favorites, and we decided to take the idea seriously. We all dressed for the occasion, hung the art in the living room, invited Grandma and Grandpa Morrow, served appetizers and champagne, etc. It was a full weekend project, but we all had a blast. She was so proud of herself.…
On the surface, today has been just a terrible day. Many minor disappointments, some Very Bad News for a friend, a farewell to one of the great leaders of my company. And it’s fucking cold. Sadness aplenty. But then I got home. And my daughter showed me one of her school projects. And then I opened the mail, which contained this wonderful shirt from Iron and Twine. And I feel better.
The seven things meme, as rendered by yours truly (@mikemorrow). Not really all that interesting—this is definitely harder than I thought, but I also didn’t want to spend too much time agonizing over what to say. Stick around here long enough and you’ll get to know me better, I’m sure. Not that I was asking for it (thanks @frageelay). 1. I have absolutely no fear of speaking in front of groups or crowds, but one-on-one conversations tend to paralyze me with anyone but my closest friends. Hence my fondness for Twitter. 2. I’m a Deadhead. As in, I used to…