I’m going through a decluttering/minimalism tear, which fits in well with my slightly-less waste initiative. I’ve been clearing things out and trying to be more cognizant of how/if I acquire items. I might do another post on the decluttering–I’m really not big on shopping or “getting stuff” AND YET I have somehow accumulated so many…
Category: Personal Life
Slightly-Less-Waste Lifestyle
I’m not a likely candidate for a “zero waste lifestyle”: I don’t particularly care for nature (bugs: no thanks) nor am I especially concerned about preserving our place on this planet (humans have had a pretty good run). But I do think it’s good as a matter of personal discipline not to waste too much….
Blogging for the Ages
I finally finished my Dad’s blog project (johnmatel.com). He had three blogs: a “preblog” that I designed the layout for back in high school, his Iraq blog (when he really started posting in earnest), and his regular blog after he returned from Iraq. They were all in different places and I couldn’t figure out how…
Constructed Memory
The reason I don’t remember much about going to Thermopylae is because we never went. I am combining my dad’s blogs and just got to the Greece entries. He wrote specifically that we would NOT go to Thermopylae. I guess I just remembered the name. Dad was always giving me books and sometimes I would…
Hey, nice marmot.
Dad took me with him to see The Big Lebowski in theatres. I would have been 13, too young to really understand it. I remember sitting there kind of bored while Dad was next to me laughing so hard he could barely breathe. He especially liked the ferret in the bathtub scene. It was one…
Visiting Rio
When we went to Rio, Dad remembered our room number 1821 because that was the year the Texas constitution was signed. He told me to “remember the Alamo,” but then corrected himself because that wasn’t until 1836 so don’t go to room 1836. Later on, completely out of the blue, he said he was wrong…
Visiting Greece
My dad studied Classics in college and for bedtime stories he told us sanitized Greek myths. I have three Athena statues in my office right now. One I actually got in Athens; the other two my dad just randomly sent to me. (He liked to send stuff. One time I opened the door and found…
Visiting Brazil
The first time I visited my dad in Brazil I had to get a yellow fever vaccine and endure an hour-long, alarmist presentation about all the ways you can get ill while traveling. The lady warned us not to eat at any buffets UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. I was like “awesome I can’t wait to get…
Forest Memories
When I went down to the farm my dad would mostly show me his favorite napping spots. There was a nice flat rock next to a stream that he particularly favored. As we were walking around, he would whap with his handsaw at vines that were choking the trees. One time we were walking down…
Random Dad Memories
After my dad passed, I posted various stories and memories on Facebook that I wanted to save on this blog as well. My dad was an avid blogger and now I feel like I should dust off this ol’ blog too… 🙂 Originally posted June 23, 2020 I was going to text my dad yesterday…