• Chapter 2

    The Ballad of Karen & Zach

    THE SUMMER OF LOVE It couldn’t have been a more perfect summer. I was cruising through my Air Force technical school training, acing tests and earning academic achievement awards. I had just finished my Basic Electronic Principals course, having graduated at the top of my class, and I was in the midst of my Networking more »

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  • Top Ten Earworms

    This Week in Z

    This is a very special TWIZ post because it is not actually news, but rather just a collection of ten epic, breathtaking, inspiring and unforgettable songs that I have been listening to on constant repeat over the last few weeks. My favorite thing to do is to share things with people, so I thought I more »

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  • Chapter 1

    The Ballad of Karen & Zach

    AN UNEXPECTED ROMANCE I remember it like it was yesterday. I had recently arrived at Keesler Air Force Base to train in computer network maintenance. I had left all my friends behind – those few who remained – in Monterey, and I was feeling very lonely and out of place. I had always trouble making more »

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  • A cup of poison

    Journal

    “One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal though … betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope.” ~ Steven Dietz First, please watch this clip from The Newsroom…   Now imagine this. You are in love and happy… Happily in love. Then more »

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  • Thank you for your participation

    Girlfriend Bracket

    And for the 64 contestants, thank you for your unwitting participation! Just to make it real clear – this was a competition for my next (fake) girlfriend. The (real) position is still available if you’re (really) interested. (pause for laughter) When I announced the winner earlier today, I promised a special treat for all of you more »

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  • We have a winner!

    Girlfriend Bracket

    I will also have a very special treat for you later today. But first, our winner (prizes listed at the bottom of this blog post)… And what a Cinderella story it is! She came into the DUTCHESS Conference as a wildcard pick and seeded at the bottom of her conference, but our winner beat the more »

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  • I’m Sorry

    Journal

    Once upon a time, a boy met a girl. She was perfect. She was more than perfect. She was everything he had dreamed he could ever want, but never dreamed could be real. But despite her “perfection” the situation was not perfect. In fact, it was nothing but uncertain. The uncertainty frightened him – paralyzed more »

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  • My Life… Simplified.

    My Life Simplified

    In honor of the late great Harvey Pekar, I have decided to (on occasion) do my own little stick figure comic strips about some of my outlook on life. …HOWEVER, for those who know me, you know I already talk way too much… so I decided to try my hand at story telling using just more »

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  • Excellence

    Aspirations

    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. ~Aristotle

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  • So here’s what’s up!

    Journal

    Not that anyone would notice (who notices when someone they aren’t listening to goes silent?), but I have been absent from the world of publicly recording my thoughts for a while now. I will give credit though: I have so many wonderful and caring friends around the country who have been there for me, rooted more »

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