Category: Personal Thoughts
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Remembering My ‘Papi’: My Dad Died a Hero, But He Shouldn’t Have…..
Yesterday – Monday, October 4, 2021 – was my father’s 102nd birthday. I never had a chance to say “Happy birthday, Papi” to Jeronimo Diaz-Granados before he died. At least, not at an age in which I could say it uncoached by my mother Beatriz. I was less than seven months old when he celebrated…
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Papi, I Hardly Knew Ye….
Today would have been my father’s 102nd birthday. Had Jeronimo Diaz-Granados not been killed in a plane crash on the morning of February 13, 1965, who knows how many birthdays he would have celebrated with Mom, my older half-sister Vicky, and me. Would Dad – or Papi – have lived to be 102? I doubt…
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A Writer’s Tale: Of Names and Songs
Many years ago, when I still lived in Miami, Florida, I wrote a short story which was both a coming-of-age tale and also a look at an older man who must re-examine his youthful choices after a tragic incident kills his high school “crush.” As Reunion’s summary reads on the back cover and on its…
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Tempus Fugit…Again, or: My ‘Colombian Childhood’ is a Half-Century in the Past
Hey, there, Dear Reader. Welcome to another nostalgia-filled post in my occasional series, Tempus Fugit, in which I look back at certain periods of my so-called life, usually to remark that half-a-century has elapsed between Then and Present Day. Last night, while I was attempting to watch the first disc of Zack Snyder’s Justice League…
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Life in the Time of COVID-19: Is the Myth of ‘Rugged Individualism’ Leading Us to National Suicide?
Poor baby wasn’t protected by her parents. We as a people just really suck right now. – Sean Goulding on Twitter, September 10, 2021. What is wrong with Americans these days, anyway? According to the latest statistics from Johns Hopkins University, 655,875 Americans – men, women, and children – have died from COVID-19, a novel…
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Memories of a College Journalist: Reviewing ‘Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home’
Greetings, Dear Reader. It’s early afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. It is a hot, rainy, and overall dreary day. The current temperature is 89˚F (29˚C) under rainy conditions. With humidity at 63% and the wind blowing from the west-northwest at 4 MPH (7 KM/H), the feels-like temperature is 91˚F…
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On Family History: Rainy Days & Mondays Bring Back Weird Memories
Hi there, Dear Reader. It’s early afternoon here in my corner of Florida on Monday, September 6, 2021. It is a rainy early fall day here. Currently, the temperature is 85˚F (30˚C) under cloudy skies. With the wind blowing from the west-northwest at 5 MPH (8 KM/H) and humidity at 61%, the heat index is…
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Musings & Thoughts for Wednesday, September 1, 2021, or: Of Storms, Starships, and Superheroes
Greetings, Dear Reader. It’s late morning here in New Hometown, Florida on Wednesday, September 1, 2021. It’s a gray, wet, and sullen day, and – if you go by the meteorological calendar instead of the astronomical one – it’s the first day of autumn. Currently, the temperature is 78˚F (25˚C) under rainy conditions. With humidity…
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On Movies: Reflections on Films, Life, and the Passage of Time
“Four days will quickly steep themselves in nights; Four nights will quickly dream away the time.” ― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream The passage of time, ‘tis a quirky thing. This weekend I purchased the Blu-ray of writer-director Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat, a modern take on film noir classics a la Double Indemnity and…
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On Movies: A Brief Statistical Overview of My Blu-ray Collection
Hi there. It is early afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida on Sunday, August 29, 2021. Currently, the temperature is 90˚F under mostly cloudy skies. With humidity at 58% and the wind blowing from the southeast at 7 MPH, the feels-like temperature is 103˚F. Today’s forecast: We can expect scattered rain showers and a high…
A Certain Point of View, Too 