Chris Rodell

• Women age distinctly; men uniformly. As a woman ages, she becomes more individual — her hair color, her laughter, her manner of dress — all put her in sharp relief from other women. All men age the same. We lose hair, gain weight and generally stumble thru life w/ the bewildered expressions of men who mistake the sliding glass patio door for open and repeatedly slam into the invisible solid. Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading

(587 words)I’m a guy with plenty of time on his hands so I wonder about the passing of time pretty much round the clock.Speaking of clocks, historians say the first one was built in the year 1270. Catching a bus before then must have required infinite patience.It sounds simplistic, but I wonder how they decided clock hands ought to go clockwise. Really, how would they know?If anyone has time to Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading

                                        • I live in a house with 3 sassy women. I teach a class of undergrads raised to be hyper-sensitive on any number of topics. And I’m under a constant barrage by boneheads eager to engage me in provocative political and social arguments. I hold my tongue so much it’s a wonder my fingertips don’t have tastebuds.• Some gifted writers enjoy gilded reputations, Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading

 (683 words)I couldn’t tell whether the stranger was mocking me or we were on the verge of bonding over my breakfast beverage of choice.“You don’t see many grown men who feel secure enough to order one of those in a crowded diner,” he said.We were sitting at the counter in the Youngstown Grille, just up the street from the Tin Lizzy and the best breakfast place in Westmoreland County — and I’m Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading

 (610 words)My disdain for the Bed & Breakfast option nearly surfaced when the sweet West Virginia proprietor told us she’d had some guests from Pittsburgh the previous week.I almost blurted out, “Oh, and how did they taste?”But I bit my tongue, unnerved by the prospect that our hosts might be biting it later on.I’m not going to contend all B&B operators are cannibals (well, they are in the Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading

 • Val was rattled this week after seeing a picture of her late mother from when she was 4 years younger than Val is today. Her mother appeared much older. Told Val she shouldn’t be surprised. She works very hard at eating right and remaining fit, has a natural beauty and, in fact, looks better today than the day we met. And if I saw her in a bar today, there’d be only one thing that would Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading

(895 words)It was last week and I was concluding my first of 30 news gathering classes. I was just about to say the part about remembering to please get your pet spayed or neutered when an afterthought floated to the front of my mind.“Oh, and if you see me limping or my left arm shaking, it’s because I have Parkinson’s Disease.”I didn’t say it to gain pity or deference. It’s just a matter of fact Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading

(471 words)Val and I did something in the bedroom we’ve even after 30 years of sleeping together had never dreamed we’d try.It was, for us at least, deviant. A little kinky.It was — and there is no way to avoid this — good and hard.I’d better explain before any of you daintier readers become faint at the bawdy turn the blog seems to have taken.We purchased a new mattress. In more than 30 years of Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading

                                     (586 words)The last time I was honored to teach journalism to Point Park University students, I was determined to make a real impression. And I did.A real bad one.The class was three hours of me talking. Three! I showed up 10 minutes late, stumbling, barely coherent. I wanted them to think I was drunk.I know, role of a lifetime. These weren’t privileged Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading

 • While is one of our most nimble, yet undefined words. You can be a good while, but not a bad one. You can take a while, but you cannot give one. I’ve never encountered a nice while but our days are strewn with meanwhiles that aren’t mean at all. Idlers like me can while away the hours but we can’t while them back. The definition is hard to pin down. It should come as no surprise: Turns out Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/ Continue Reading