dubbatrubba

Because I’m a person of advanced years, I DO think about Social Security a bit more than I did in my carefree younger days. But I quickly tire of any talk about Social Security insolvency. Not because it isn’t possible, but because the fix is so patently obvious. It’s time to raise the roof! Here’s why: I know $184,500 is more than most Americans earn in a year. But there are plenty of people…

Jason Kottke’s newsletter led me to Molly Burford’s “list poetry” as Jason called it. I thought this one was very poignant: I especially love “Those who are kind to those who can do nothing for them.” because I think it’s a great litmus test. And “scrappy souls” is a great moniker too! If you have people like this in your life, you’re truly blessed. As Molly advises “Hold them close. Love them…

So Agent Orange waddled up to a podium last night and read from the teleprompter about how American elections were “worse than any Third World country.” If you’re trying to keep score at home, here’s your cheat sheet (no pun intended): Elections Donald J. Trump won*: fair, secure, no meddling… “perfect” Election he lost: fraudulent, rigged, rife with cheating and voter fraud,…

I am on the email list for a Cincinnati ad agency specializing in social media. No shade to that agency (I signed up for the newsletter), but the general use of the term “creator” in relation to social media sticks in my craw a bit. Here’s an excerpt from the newsletter: it’s not just there, it’s everywhere. If you have carved out a niche — or even a career — on social media, then God bless,…

In his weekly newsletter from last Friday, writer/artist Austin Kleon had this sage advice (which also appears in his new book Don’t Call It Art): Another assignment for the holiday weekend, from Don’t Call It Art: “Get offline as much as possible. There’s so much input to be found in the real world outside of the internet. Go old school. Listen to radio shows. Browse the recently returned…

Many moons ago, Nora Guthrie, the daughter of legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, found a shoebox full of her dad’s lyrics. British punk-folk musician Billy Bragg and the alt-country/Americana band Wilco agreed to put them to music, and an album called Mermaid Avenue was released in 1998 to much critical acclaim. A couple of weekends ago, Billy Bragg and Wilco finally performed those songs live…

My wife’s cousin Kelly recently retired from teaching. (That’s Kelly on the left, when she and Mrs. Dubbatrubba had a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off-style adventure recently.) She spent 30+ years at Catholic grade schools in the D.C. area. Over those three-plus decades, thousands of kids crossed paths with her. In the classroom. In the lunchroom. In the hallways. At the school plays, and the…

I know you’re probably tired of hearing me yammer about some tiny “modern rock” radio station where I worked long, long ago. Heck, that station has been off the air for 16 years. It’s so old that it’s now considered “historical.” Give it a rest already! But here’s the thing. This past Saturday, the Butler County Historical Society had a 97X “Back to the Future of Rock & Roll” event. More…

While I was on my “Big Sky Country” trip a couple of weeks ago (see this recent post for more), I simply had to make a pilgrimage to the site of Evel Knievel’s ill-fated Snake River Canyon “Sky Cycle” jump. Or attempted jump, more accurately. Evel’s name probably doesn’t mean much to this generation, raised on “Dude Perfect” videos. But to men of a certain age — Boomers and Gen X fellas — his…

“Tell me you have a golden retriever without telling me you have a golden retriever.” Bibo is our official greeter at home. Doesn’t matter if you’ve been gone two weeks or two minutes. He’s always happy to see you. Or to meet you if you’re a stranger. Unfailingly friendly. Loving. Maybe we should be more like our dogs. Only less hairy.

We’re a year and a half into the second term of the Cheeto in Chief. How’s it going for you? Grocery prices? Gas prices? Affordable housing? Peace? Donnie’s dumped more than $100 billion down the gold-plated toilet for an unwinnable war, which also shut down a key shipping route. It’s wreaked havoc across the world. And here were are in 2026, worse off than when the Obama agreement was put in…

Earlier this month, Mrs. Dubbatrubba, our son Peter and I went out west, along with some friends. Five of the six folks in the photo above had run the Grand Teton half-marathon the day prior to this hike. Three of the people in the photo went on to run the Yellowstone half-marathon a week later. I’ll give you three guesses as to which of folks above was the sluggard who did neither race. (And…

Last night, at the Woodward Theater, Tommy Stinson had some fun. And that was his primary goal. He said so from the stage. “We’re here to have fun… play some songs… and drink water.” There were probably fewer than 100 people in the audience. Not always “fun” for a musician. Especially one who spent several years playing arenas as the bassist for Guns N’ Roses. When I say Tommy’s been on stage…

Hola! I’ve been using Duolingo to learn Spanish. Or at least to try to learn Spanish. I’ve been at it for a bit. Or a bit longer than a bit. Am I anywhere close to fluent? No. (Or, as we say in Spanish… “no.”) But am I a lot better than I was before I started? Si! And am I a lot better off spending time on the Duolingo app instead of mindlessly scrolling through social media? Without a doubt!…

I’m not into motorsports of any sort. I blame that time in high school when my friends and I were doing our own late night time trials on my friend Jon’s younger sister’s moped. Complete a loop from his house – down the street, up a hill, another straightaway, then back down the hill. I was clearly on track for the fastest lap — at least in my head — until I wiped out in turn 4, going down the…

Here’s a quick overview of what I was up to late last week (some of which my faithful readers — all three of them — already know about): Thursday night: Jason Narducy house concert… at our house. Friday night: Seeing my son Gabriel’s band The Collies play at a bar in Mt. Lookout. Saturday during the day: working on a basement clean-up project. Saturday night: Maggie Rose/Molly Tuttle concert…

Here’s our living room this morning: But here’s what it was like last night: A rockin’ house concert, for our family and 25 other folks – some of whom were friends, but most of whom were just friendly strangers. That’s Jason Narducy playing to the crowd. He releases music as Split Single. He’s also the touring bassist for Superchunk, one of my favorite bands. Also bassist in the Bob Mould band…