This past weekend Kemba jumped off the roof. Yes, my writing students at Blackham Middle School in Bridgeport, this is hyperbole.  But not by much. Wait, though.  Let’s back up a little. From the time Kemba emigrated from Canada, as a little ball of fluff, he never seemed to be where we were sure…

I am SO, SO, SO excited!  Mrs. B told me that to welcome me and Beagle Man home from LA/XC-4, and to celebrate the completion of Beagle Man’s series of four cross-country road trips, and to congratulate Robby on his college graduation, she’s throwing a big backyard barbecue FOR ALL THE DOGS I KNOW…

LA/XC-4 DAY THIRTY-ONE:  POSTING FROM WESTPORT, CT Last-day mileage from Port Clinton, OH to Westport, Ct:  571 Total LA/XC-4 mileage:  8,710 Road Music:  Sirius cycle; Spurs-Clippers; Gretchen Wilson (Here For the Party); Little Big Town (Tornado, Pain Killer); Mets-Yanks Weather leaving Por…

When I’m not writing for Beagle Man, I’m writing for brands. So here’s a summary of my trip in the form of a Best Western commercial. Best Western Hotels/”Hank and Kemba”  :30  WE OPEN ON A MAN AND HIS DOG WALKING INTO THE LOBBY OF A BEST WESTERN. WE HEAR HIS VOICE FROM OFF-CAMERA. VO: Every year…

LA/XC-4 DAYS TWENTY-NINE AND THIRTY:  POSTING FROM PORT CLINTON, OHIO Two-day mileage from Kenosha, WI to Port Clinton, OH:  481 Total LA/XC-4 mileage:  8,139 Road Music:  “Sweet Home Alabama” endlessly, to see if it still deserves #1 on Hank Herman’s 300 Favorite Songs of All Time, the revised…

LA/XC-4 DAYS TWENTY-TWO THROUGH TWENTY-EIGHT:  POSTING FROM KENOSHA, WI Seven-day mileage from Mount Shasta, CA to Kenosha, WI:  2,761 Total LA/XC-4 mileage:  7,659 Road Music:  Sirius cycle; NBA “red zone” (e.g., listening to the ends of all the playoff games); LA/XC-4 playlist (The Band Perry…

Help me out here.  I really do want to play by the rules . . . but what are the rules?  As far as I can tell, they keep changing.  Last Monday, down at Huntington Beach in California (seems like a long time ago!), Beagle Man sent me charging into the ocean after tennis balls.  Said he loved it.  S…

 There was this Looney Tunes cartoon when I was little: This old man’s walking down the street, when he comes across a dancing frog in a top hat singing “Hello! Ma Baby.” He can’t believe his eyes! But when he tries to show his discovery to literally anyone else on the planet, the frog just sit…

For the first half of my life, everything I knew about music I learned from the back seat of my dad’s car. Dire Straits (Brothers in Arms), Bryan Adams (Cuts Like a Knife, Reckless), Tom Petty (Full Moon Fever, Wildflowers, Greatest Hits), John Mellencamp (then “Cougar”) (American Fool), John Foger…

LA/XC-4 DAYS EIGHTEEN, NINETEEN, TWENTY, AND TWENTY-ONE:  POSTING FROM MOUNT SHASTA, CA Westbound mileage to L.A.: 3,602 Mileage while in L.A. area:  524 Three-day mileage from Santa Monica to Mount Shasta:  772 Total LA/XC-4 mileage:  4,898 Road Music:  Tuesday —  Willie Nelson’s “On the Road…