Carro's Corner

A lot of people talk about their FIRST kiss – but not a lot of us talk about our first REAL kiss. My FIRST kiss was something almost out of a movie. We’d partied the night before, she’d asked if it was okay to stay over. I pretended to be nonchalant when I said “yes” – and also pretended to be nonchalant when she took her toothbrush out of her bag. She knew I’d say yes. When I woke, she was…

It’s all over. The Skywalker journey is complete. Well, sort of…

Way back in December of 2015, droves of people showed up to watch Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Now, it’s been a few months since the December, 2019 release of Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Fans have had lots of time to watch these films if they haven’t yet, what with the plague upon us *cough*COVID-19*cou…

The Lady In Orange

When you took my hand and we slow-danced in front of the band that night, I knew it was a goodbye dance and that we’d never see each other again. I took your hand anyway, sliding my fingers in between yours and feeling their delicate grace from beneath your orange satin gloves. We moved slowly, rocking back and forth, our bodies pressed close. You rested your head on my shoulder, closing your…

So, to set up this piece – it’s intended as a farce, as a joke, and as a writing exercise. The task was to create an erotic story that is full of terrible analogies, bad metaphors, and is all-around purposefully just…well, bad. So, enjoy the laughs – but be careful reading ahead because there is sexuality (even if it is produced in a terrible way) and some very naughty words and language. – Joe

Just to preface this short piece of fiction – this was created using an entire list of random suggested words for a writing exercise. Once you start reading, I’m sure you’ll be able to find those words. I had fun writing this, and it gave me fuel to write something else more serious – so never discount writing prompts because they can be pretty useful! – Joe

  The flames flickered against the…

I stared at the handwriting on the plain mailing envelope – my own name written in ink, my former home address at the top left.

That same handwriting, in years before, had expressed feelings and truths for me in pages after pages of love notes and reminiscences created for birthdays or holidays or anniversaries. Just for me.

Attached to that handwriting, which I’d examined with a smile countless…

Written In Key West, December 2019

Her eyes were what drew me in. Long, slender lashes encircling light brown irises – the depth behind them halting my thoughts. She knew the power of her eyes, and she used it to her advantage daily. She could bat those eyes and make you forget who you were, which I constantly found myself doing.

She had a malleable personality and was a sort of social chameleon. I fell in love with her long…

Gremlins is the Best Christmas Movie

Many of us, when pressed, are able to give a favorite holiday movie or two in casual conversation. I know a few staples are It’s a Wonderful Life – featuring Jimmy Stewart rehashing his childhood and adult life and what it would have been like without him around. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer– a claymation film with a cute reindeer protagonist who is exiled for his differences and then exploited…

A Yankee In The Deep South – Part 2

The view from the Collins’ backyard

The pleasant road to Lake Champlain

The alehouse – 14th Star Brewing Co. 

A Yankee In The Deep South – Vermont

  My wife and me in better times. RIP

Top Row, Left To Right: Franklin Ard, Joseph Carro, Shane Collins. Bottom Row, Left To Right: Enza Vescera, Chloe Collins

Update – 11/19/2019

Hey, all. It’s been a while. I think my last post was over a month ago, and that is mostly due to the insane amount of chaos I’ve been dealing with over the past few months.

Since March, I’ve dealt with moving to a new apartment and adjusting to life there, a death of a friend, a prolonged sickness my grandmother was dealing with that resulted in her passing away, my job being stressful and on…

It had been a rough night. Not rough as in end-of-the-world, but annoying and depressing and monotonous enough to make me want to get out, so I finally did. Damn the consequences. Damn my job. Damn the world.

I had it in mind that I would find something – some sort of an adventure – something to take away from the mind-numbing existential crisis that was the retail experience of my work life. I…

It was hard saying goodbye to my home of six years. I’d come to almost think of the little house on the corner as my real home, as someplace I would stay for years to come. But as is the case with any time I let myself feel too comfortable in the past, it was not to be.

The entryway I’d helped build with my father in law, the plastic I had put over the windows to keep the cold out over the…

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

No Room For Regret By Janeen Ann O’Connell 326 pp. Creativia, $12.99

With No Room For Regret, author Janeen Ann O’Connell has crafted a personal take on the trials and tribulations of James Tedder and his mate James Blay – two young men who are exiled from London, England in 1811 and sentenced to work in Van Diemen’s Land – an unforgiving penal colony located in what is now present day Tasmania.…

My Top Ten Favorite Marvel Films

So, with the recent close of the Infinity Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with the final entry being Avengers: Endgame – I figured that now would be a good opportunity to not only make another Top Ten list (because I haven’t done that in a while) but also to make it about my own favorite films in the MCU’s roster.

Please note: These are my favorites as of now, June 2019 and are…

Concord – The Little Town With Everything

Every year for a few years now, I’ve visited the town of Concord, Massachusetts. With every successive year I’ve gone, I’ve been dealing with new sets of challenges and new personal goals along the way.

The original purpose in visiting Concord (and the surrounding towns of Lexington, Lincoln, and Bedford) was to bone up on my history and explore a town that had a lot to do with the beginnings of…