The neighborhood I live in began as a family farm. When a developer purchased the property in the early 1920s, they built 204 homes on the land. Back then, there was a lovely variety of architecture, not like today's tract housing. The original "show-home" that was used to advertise all the features possible is across the street from me. That home had everything from a marble staircase to Roman sh...

A quick follow-up on yesterday’s story. 

Kurt was part of a dinner party we had over the holidays. That moving story got retold at the table. My boys were hearing it for the first time, and the tale produced wild gales of laughter. Then Kurt said he recently learned Marc had died. He wasn’t sure of the circumstances but did share a few memories about him. 

Marc collected music back in the vinyl, CD, and tape days. He approached this hobby with a professional seriousness. For bands that interested him, he worked to collect everything from them, including obscure recordings and international exports. Then, after some period of time, he would bring the entire collection into the shop Kurt worked at to trade it in. Kurt, a collector himself, would study the bounty and question Marc’s decision, explaining this trade-in would come at a substantial financial loss to Marc. Marc would wave it off, saying he wasn't interested in them anymore and was moving on to a new band. He'd leave the box with Kurt to be valued. He would then build a new collection by a new artist, and in time approach Kurt's counter with an overflowing box and the cycle would repeat itself. 

Another thing Kurt remembered about Marc was when he young, like most kids his age, he was obsessed with everything Star Wars. When new movies were released, Marc's mother would take him to the show. Then on the drive home while they excitedly talked about the film and traded their favorite scenes, his mother would say, “Marc, you should check beneath your seat.” And with wide eyes he would fall into the footwell (this being back in the seatbelt optional days), dart his small hand in to the dark space and come out with an action figure or two from this latest film. Kurt commented on how thoughtful and kind he thought that was of Marc's mother. Fully impossible not to agree. 

Rest in peace Marc. You were an interesting (and helpful) soul. I hope you have all the clean urine you require and music and action figures you desire in your new/next home. 

I stopped into a music store to ask a friend who worked there to help me move. When I walked in, I saw Kurt at his usual post behind the register. After a few pleasantries, I told him of my need and asked if he could help this coming weekend. I said I had very few things, so it would be super quick, and pizza at a popular eatery afterward was on me. He said he would be happy to help. 
< ...

The first elementary school my kids went to had a basketball court on their playground. It was a full proper court with nice nets hanging from orange metal rims. They were popular during recess, but they also got plenty of play from all sorts of folks who lived in the community. 

It was not uncommon for late-afternoon pickup games to happen. When school let out, the bus-riding kids would...

My first-ever girlfriend was Anna Smith. She moved to Fort Collins from Nebraska in the middle of ninth grade. I had two classes with her, and we found it easy to talk with one another right away. I don't recall how long it was before our multi-hour phone calls began but each ended by one of our parents picking up another phone in the house and saying they thought we had talked long enough. ...

Marty recounted a story from when she was twelve to Tony and I. She went to a lake house with a cousin of hers. While there she and her cousin, who was also a super-cute girl, ran into some boys also visiting the area. One of the boys became very interested in Marty. In the retelling of the story Marty said the boys first and last name, a name she has remembered all of these years given the awkwar...

Anthony starts his senior year of high school this week. For college, presently, it is looking like he might be attending Mizzou to study Journalism. Given this interest Marty, Anfer and I visited the school on their summer visit day. It was a fun day that began at day-break when we had to set out on the two hour drive to the school. We enjoyed seeing the campus and hearing the various schools and...

In the late nineties Marta and I visited Fort Collins, Colorado where I grew up. While in town, I learned that a high school friend was also in visiting her parents. I reached out and she invited Marty and I to join her for a picnic in the foothills her family had planned. After pulling into her driveway and being introduced, her father and I had the following conversation.

BRENT
Wh...

Part 1 of this story is here

The new girl and the question were unexpected, so it took me a moment to realize what she was asking about, but when I did, I had a moment of panic. 

TROY
Oh. That over there? You saw that?

CAR GIRL
Yes. I was driving home from work and saw the two of you on the corner. I couldn’t figure out what was ...

It feels like a minute since I've had the opportunity to share a good story, so let's make the first post-restoration entry about one of the more unusual things to happen to me since being away. 

In 2021, I spent a week in my hometown, Fort Collins, Colorado. Midway through the week, I had to switch to a new Airbnb spot, so I found myself in a new neighborhood. I quickly noticed it was n...

There's a growing block of people who think I'm a sociopath. How do I know? Because they tell me. Well, they don't tell me, they tell Marty. It typically comes in the form of saying they think something is wrong with me. When Marty asks them why they think that, they say it's because there's no way someone is as happy as Troy appears to be. Marty, with the slightest show of exasperation, will tell ...

"See you Sunday."

This is what we say to Anthony when he leaves the house. It doesn't matter if the day is Monday or Saturday; this is what is said. The source of this is tied to a single weekend from his sophomore year where Anthony left the house on Saturday morning with no real plans in hand, and we didn't see him again until Sunday evening.

He did a number of things with tho ...

Bella and Abdi (her multi-year boyfriend) were in Chicago for a long weekend. After parking their car on a congested neighborhood street, they stood back, assessing if their park job was okay given the signs and curb paint. They stopped two guys passing by and told them they were visiting town and asked if they, the guys, thought their parking was alright. The two fellows gave it a thumbs up. Afte ...

I think Anthony...

The Secret Cajun Band (SCB) is a St. Louis ska-band I became obsessed with in the 90s. Marty knew the guitar player from her high school days and asked me to go with her to a small concert they were doing. I said I didn't want to go. She said she didn't want to go alone and asked me to go as a favor. So I went, but under protest. After the first five notes from the first-ever song I heard from the ...

For years Bella wanted to be a waitress. I believe this began after she heard, "waitresses make bank!" After working a few counter-service jobs, she got hired at Red Lobster. They said she couldn't serve tables because she had no experience, but they would start her as a hostess and get her waiting tables in time. That never happened, and after a half year or so, Bella gave notice.

She t...

Anthony. Where to even begin in describing what it's like to exist near a now 16-year-old Anthony Walter DeArmitt.

His life mantra for the past few years has been, "it will probably be ok," and to date, he has been 100% right.

Even though academics might be one of his top skills/gifts, he has applied to a trade school where he will study the construction arts in his last two ye...

Best friend Mike, known around these parts as Bookpimp, recently turned 50. To mark the milestone, he had planned a gathering of his three best buds, which techinically is two best friends and a brother. The original celebration got axed by the pandemic but was salvaged in late 2022 when things started normalizing. Months before the gathering, I reached out to the other two invitees, unbeknowst to...

Aleo began his college career this Fall. Like Bella, he elected to stay local. I already talked about his unsolicited scholarship, which made his attendance in a film program at this private university possible.

Alex has been interested in video production for years. He's watched hundreds, possibly thousands, of hours of videos on the subject...

It was a Friday. Marty was home because it was parent-teacher conference week. On these weeks, Marty works three, twelve-hour days and, in return, gets a Friday off. The boys were home too because if there are no teachers, there is no school.

I woke at my usual time and started working. After a few hours, I heard Marty's feet pad to the bathroom. I snuck to our bed, so I was there for ou...

A friend of mine wrote a musical. I knew he'd been working on it for a few years. I mainly knew because he asked me to go to some recording studio and scream into a microphone for a demo reel. After a few takes, they thanked me for my time and sent me home. Not a soul was surprised. I'm a writer, not a yeller.

Then one day years later, he mentioned, in passing, that his musical was being...

Anthony began high school this year. This means a few things. First, it is the last time he and his brother will attend the same school at the same time. They had a nice long run in elementary but will only have this one year left. Unless you count the covid year, that was a very special setup for the two of them as they spent that entire year side by side, and as each other's best friend, they we...

When I worked at the university, one of their benefits was free tuition for your children. When I left the university in 2016 to start my company (and when Bella was a high school junior), I walked away from a million-dollar tuition benefit. In fact, the benefit was so valuable, there is an employment syndrome there called the golden handcuffs. This happens when someone no longer likes their job b...

One of the first things I do each day is make note of what happened the day before.

Each year, there are always a few stand-out days. This year that day was May 4th, 2021. Here is my daily re-cap from that day.

• this was anthony's first day back to school in over a year. he has to go in for end-of-term testing and they won't/can't let kids do that from home. i could tell anthony...
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For as long as I can remember, I've been telling Anthony there are two things he should try–debate and wrestling. Debate because he has an unreasonably able mind and wit. Wrestling because when young he spent as much time climbing trees as he did walking the earth. As a result, Anthony sports a collection of striated muscles that would be the envy of even the most committed gym-rat. After every ...