Back in December of 2019, I was contacted by Chris, who along with his wife, both from Muncie, have put together a podcast series on unsolved Indiana homicides in the central region of the state. The title of the Series is “Circle City Crime” and it is now in its second season.
Continue readingThe Two Wolves

Continue readingThere is a battle of two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth. The wolf that wins? The one you feed.”
– Cherokee Proverb
Lunar Landing – A Half a Century Ago
Incredibly, today, July 20th, 2019, is the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing, which fulfilled President Kennedy’s 1961 vow to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
Continue readingHelô Pinheiro, That Girl From Ipanema
Who could not be familiar with the world’s most famous bossa nova song, Girl From Ipanema? The song was written in 1962 by Brazilians songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim and poet Vinicius de Moraes as they were sitting in the Veloso, a cabana on the famous beach in Rio, watching a young siren walk to the sea.
Continue readingForty Years of “Gravy”
On July 14, 1979, I turned my 1975 Monte Carlo into an El Camino, instantly. I also managed to push the ball of my femur through the back of its socket. Basically, I broke my hip, the largest joint in the human body. Some describe the pain of a broken hip as comparable to that of birthing a child. Having had no way of verifying that, I just took their word for it. By the way, it was painful enough to make those analogies seem valid.
Continue readingIndiana’s Contribution to Music
A while back, I posted about Indiana authors of note. Here’s a follow-up post comprising a list of contributors who’ve made a huge impact to music from the Hoosier state!
Continue readingThe First “First Lady”
One of the largest repositories of genealogical data in the world belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormons. During my ongoing research into my family tree, I’ve used the LDS genealogy website, familysearch.org, extensively and often receive notifications of new findings as they arise.
Continue readingReturn to the Lone Star State
After arriving home yesterday morning at 7:00 am from a road trip to my previous state of residence, I reflect on the week-long excursion. From Muncie to the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is roughly one thousand miles, about 16 hours of drive time using the optimum route. Having made the trip many times over the last 4 decades, the distance may not have changed, but my physical stamina and mental acuity sure have!
Continue readingDayton Days
We were in our apartment at Poplar Apartments in Durham, North Carolina, when Dad opted for the Air Force instead of waiting for his draft number to come up. Originally, we were to be heading to San Antonio, which I thought was cool since I’d been learning all about the Alamo, in fact, we had just watched the John Wayne film classic. However, at the last minute the final verdict came in and it would be “Wright-Patt”, so it was off to Dayton, Ohio.
Continue readingBrief History of the Jack O’ Lantern

By ESanders (WMF) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Tonight is officially Halloween of 2017. That means trick-or-treat for the kids, pranks for the juveniles, costume parties for the adults, and of course, the lighting of the carved-up pumpkin. But how did the “Jack-o-Lantern”, become such a traditional part of all this?
Continue reading