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About John B. Marek
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Blog postWhat are you afraid of? It is a question that has haunted our kind since we first began gathering around communal fires in hopes of keeping the unknown at bay. As a species, we like to scare each other, and ourselves. It’s a weird concept if you think about it; purposely subjecting ourselves to stressful situations to get our hearts beating and our blood pumping. And this time of year, especially, we tend to push ourselves to the limits of dread in search of that deeply unsettling feeling that a
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Blog postI held off writing this review until I had seen all seven episodes of the new Netflix limited series “Midnight Mass.” I’ve been burned in the past by shows that start out well and then devolve into silliness as they progress. While “Mass" doesn’t completely stick the landing, I think even the East German judge would give it a solid 9. Taken as a whole, I think it is as effective a piece of horror as the combined “It” movies from a few years ago, and right on par with “Hereditary” and “Midso
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Blog postI grew up in a small "company" town in Ohio. Gypsum had about 200 residents, most of whom worked at the wallboard plant a half-mile down the road from the center of town. That town center consisted of a post office, a... well let's call it a restaurant/bar, a railroad crossing, and a grocery. The exact size and layout of Hagel's Store are a little murky in my memory; I tend to think of it as a small grocery store when in reality, it was probably more of a large convenience store. I do
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Blog postI love a good documentary, especially one that details a scientist or researcher attempting to prove a weird or controversial theory. In 1972, I convinced my father, who was somewhat less of a documentary enthusiast, to take me to see “The Voyage of the Ra” at the theater in Port Clinton. The film followed the adventures of Thor Heyerdahl, who believed that ancient Egyptian traders had crossed the Atlantic Ocean in papyrus reed boats. He succeeded in sailing such a craft from Morocco to Ba
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Blog postConsidering this column is published in a coffee house newsletter, it is perhaps a little strange that I have never written about coffee. The truth is, I’ve never felt like I had anything clever or interesting to say on the topic, until today. My personal history with coffee goes back a long, long way. My father started nearly every day of his adult life by brewing a pot so strong it could loosen the lug nuts on a ’57 Chevy, pouring himself a cup, and adding a generous portion of
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Blog postI don't know if students today still diagram sentences, but I know I spent a disproportionate amount of time in 7th grade Reading class drawing little tournament brackets for such scintillating exposition as "Jane and Billy walked to the lush green park." Even now, with the luxury of hindsight, it is difficult for me to understand what those diagrams accomplished. I sincerely doubt Hemingway ever asked himself; does the adjective go on the diagonal line? The better part of Reading clas
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Blog postSometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 1981, I found myself in the food court of the Sandusky Mall with my buddy, Carl. We were home on break and had gone to the mall to buy Christmas gifts and kill some time. Two girls approached as we sat, talking about what store to hit next and who we had yet to buy for. Carl greeted them and introduced them to me as acquaintances from his summer job. “What are you guys up to?”
“Oh, you know,” Carl declared suavely, “buying some -
Blog postMy father loved ice cream. Some of my fondest memories involve piling into the car on a Sunday afternoon and driving to one of the nearby ice cream shops for a frozen treat. Most of the soft-serve places had only two flavors in those days, vanilla and chocolate, but there was a shop in the town of Castalia, 30 minutes from our house, that offered a rotating third flavor, usually strawberry, but occasionally peach or blueberry. That was sufficiently novel to justify making the trip three or four
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Blog postIn the Frasier episode “A Tsar Is Born,” Martin, Niles and Frasier get into an argument (what are the odds?) about which television show to watch. Frasier and Niles want to watch a highbrow PBS presentation, while Martin wants to watch a game show. It takes them a few minutes to realize they are talking about the same program, “Antiques Roadshow.” There are similarly mixed opinions about my favorite online comedy show, which streams live daily and is watched by millions of people, many of whom b
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Blog postOne of the “casualties” of the pandemic for me has been, oddly enough, camping. While spending time alone in the woods is the very definition of “social distancing,” the “getting to the woods” part has been a little more challenging. Early in the pandemic, state parks were closed to visitors for several weeks, and when they did reopen, it was often with strict limits on the number of people admitted at any one time. Coupled with an increased demand from families looking for something safe-ish to
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Blog postA few weeks ago, I wrote candidly about my mixed feelings regarding my high school class reunion. Despite some trepidation, I did log on to the Zoom feed and spend a few minutes exchanging pleasantries with my classmates. I also checked out the many pictures they posted of the reunion itself, as well as some ancillary sightseeing. One photo, in particular, grabbed my attention: The Confederate Cemetery and Soldier Memorial. Wait. Didn’t you grow up in Ohio?
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Blog postFive years ago this week, I interviewed for the job as economic development director for Anson County. It was a hot day in Uptown Wadesboro, even for late July, with the temperature sneaking into the mid-90s and an unrelenting sun beating down on the asphalt of Wade and Greene streets. My interview was scheduled for late afternoon, and I arrived in town 30 minutes early, not knowing for sure how long the drive would take, and determined not to be late. Since I had a little time, I
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Blog postThe earliest humans undoubtedly discovered the value of fire as a means of food preparation by accident. A lightning strike caused a forest fire; Grog and his family found a few incinerated woodland creatures, decided they tasted pretty good, and as a bonus didn't make you sick like uncooked meat occasionally did. At some point, they figured out that there are ways to capture that fire and keep it burning. The big leap, though, was when ancient man advanced from collecting fire to manufacturing
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Blog postWent to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends Even if you are too young to have heard this song playing throughout the summer of 1972, you are probably vaguely familiar with the lyrics. It was the last hit single for Ricky Nelson, a ’50s television star who reinvented himself as a rock star in the ’60s and a country-folk crooner in the ’70s. The lyric that probably sticks most in your mind is the singalong chorus:
But it’s all right now, I learned my l -
Blog postAt lunchtime the other day, I went through the drive-through line at McDonald’s, pulled up to the speaker, placed my order, and paused a beat waiting for the inevitable follow-up question: “Would you like to short-sell that?”
“No. I just … wait … what?
“Would you like to short-sell your number 2? You borrow a Big Mac, fries, and Coke from us today in the hope that the price goes down, then you can buy them from another store at the lower price and give them bac -
Blog postLast week, the Harlem Globetrotters officially requested membership in the NBA, their reasoning being that they have, over the years, done more than any other team to promote professional basketball and create the popularity the league enjoys today. This is clearly a publicity stunt, and a clever one, on the part of the Globetrotters, and it’s hard to argue their name recognition and popularity, but suggesting they are responsible for the professional game is akin to saying the Arthurian legend
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Blog postI was scrolling through the news last week and saw that Frank Bonner had passed away at age 79. If that name sounds familiar, but you can’t quite place it, I’m not surprised. A character actor who played one-off roles in shows such as “Love American Style,” “Mannix,” “Night Court,” “Cannon” and “Police Woman,” his most famous role was the simultaneously under-the-radar and over-the-top Herb Tarlek on the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati." A few days before my 16th birthday, WKRP premiered
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Blog postA couple of miles east of the sprawling rail and shipyards that make up the port of Superior, Wisc., the sole relic of a brief but fascinating era in maritime history sits incongruously in the middle of a grassy field, flanked by a putt-putt golf course, playground and ice cream shop. To the casual observer, the whaleback steamer Meteor resembles a submarine more than the surface-faring freighter she was; her white superstructure mounted awkwardly atop her 380-foot long rounded black hull.
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Blog postThis past weekend, I was browsing through some posts on a Facebook page dedicated to Ohio’s Lake Erie Islands. I grew up on the nearby mainland and visited the islands frequently as a kid. While I find many aspects of “island life” fascinating, a particular post on Saturday drove home one specific challenge of that lifestyle that would be a non-starter for me. The poster asked whether anyone on Middle Bass Island had some polyurethane sealant they could sell to him. He was trying to finish a pro
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Blog postAs a writer, I have a more intimate relationship with words than, say, the average accountant or software engineer. Right now, I am having an intense dalliance with the word “fungible.” It’s a curious word that sounds a little like a mashup of ”fungi” and ”sponge,” which evokes a pretty disturbing mental image, or perhaps ”fun” and ”gullible,” which is closer to the truth. The dictionary definition of fungible is “able to replace or be replaced by another identical item; mutually interchangeable
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Blog postAlthough often referred to as a Duck “boat,” the General Motors DUKW utility vehicle is really more of a floating truck. Designed for use as an amphibious assault transport during WWII, its role was to cross a few hundred yards of water between the ship and beach, then drive up out of the water, delivering troops and supplies to the frontlines. Sporting just a 90-horsepower GMC 270 engine, it was hardly a speedster on either land or water, but it served its purpose admirably in the invasion of S
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Blog postThe offices of RS Byrnes Associates, the firm where I worked as a consultant from 1998 to 2004, were located in a two-story office building near the intersection of Carmel and Pineville Matthews roads in south Charlotte. We shared the ground floor with an insurance agency, and the upstairs cycled through a variety of different tenants, including a masseuse, a computer repair shop and an architect. Our suite had previously been occupied by a dentist’s office, which explained why there was occasio
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Blog postYou could make the case that fall is the most aptly named season, what with leaves and temperatures both falling, but from where I sit, calling the season we are now in “spring” is just as appropriate. One day things are brown and gray, and then, BOOM, everything springs into shades of green – the Green Bang. Of course, that green is accompanied by an eighth-inch thick layer of yellow pollen on everything, but that’s life in the Carolinas.
The first time I ever visited Charlotte wa -
Blog postLast week’s Field Notes started with an anecdote about a shrine to the Virgin Mary, and this week’s starts with a tale about another shrine of sorts. In February 1989, the technology startup where I was employed, Fox Software, was acquired by Microsoft. A handful of the top-level managers and programmers were transitioned to Seattle, but the majority of the workers, myself included, were offered a token severance and sent on our way.
Just a few years out of college with a w -
Blog postMy grandmother celebrated her 90th birthday at the small, tumbledown house where she raised 10 children. There was a huge store-bought cake (a rarity in my mom’s family of proud bakers) with a decorative plastic crown in the middle holding a single candle. After the festivities had ended, the various family members got in their cars to return home. Since we lived just a few miles away, we were the last to leave. The remnants of the cake had been wrapped and put in the fridge for Grandma to enjoy
Titles By John B. Marek
