I'm Frank and I'm old enough to know better. Any wisdom I have was hard-earned, mostly by making things more difficult for myself. I live in Virginia with my wife Penelope and children Lilly and Indy (names changed for their privacy).
A story of pushing back, by Felix. I grew up in a bar. My mom worked at Sonny’s, the neighborhood dive, a fine place to drink cheap beer and listen to a juke box as vintage as the clientele. After school I’d sit there waiting until the end
A side conversation, with Tristan and Jude. Continued from Pain, Suffering, Refuge: Part 1. Jude stood at the garden bed, tending peppers in the afternoon’s golden hours. By then the shadows stretched over him and the rest of the farm, a contrast to the stunning amber glow of twilight
Thoughts about the hard times, by Jude. My family didn’t have a whole lot of money growing up. Though we never wanted for any necessities – we always had food, clothing, shelter, and presents under the Christmas tree – I did sometimes long for things we didn’t have. I remember
A story of unintended second chances, by Stuart. Everyone needs a fresh start after middle school. I needed one bad. I arrived in sixth grade with my giant plastic glasses, small body in hand-me-down clothes, and complete inability to control my limbs during any sort of athletic activity like throwing
A story of getting out by going through, by Ian. They say Navy Surface Warfare Officers eat their young. I can attest this is not true, but it happens often enough that it feels true. As a young, lost junior officer on his first ship, I longed for good examples
A seasonal update. Thank you. I mean it. For a long time I played with the idea of sharing my words outside of my own notebooks, but it’s scary. It’s one thing to send them out into the world and completely another to send them out into the
A story of failure, by Ian, continued from Faking It, Part 2. This story was originally published on June 28, 2025. OPS caught me right after breakfast on Friday morning. “Well, sir, last night we were able to complete the flight deck events that we had planned for this morning,
A story of our own expectations, by Ian, continued from Faking It, Part I. This story was originally published on June 22, 2025. That night a piercing ring shocked me from the depths of sleep. I slap grabbed the phone and managed, “…Captain….” “Sir, this is the Officer of the
Thoughts on Father’s Day. This post was originally published on Father's Day, June 15, 2025. Many years ago, when my kids were young, I told them I had Daddy Magic. Whenever Lilly or Indy got bumps, scrapes, or bruises, I would rub my hands together, blow into
A story of others’ expectations, by Ian. This story was originally published on June 8, 2025. I closed my eyes and drew in that cool, dry morning air from the bridge wing, high above the pier. Sunlight stretched up from behind the eastern mountains into an open sky, now glowing
Productivity advice, by Felix. This post was originally published on June 1, 2025. You want to be productive? Stop reading productivity advice. I used to devour this stuff. Any article I saw that remotely fit into the kind of work I did, any content that promised to offer some slight
Thoughts on Memorial Day, by Stuart. This post was originally published on Memorial Day, May 26, 2025. You might see reminders today to pause, if only for a moment, to honor our service members who sacrificed their lives in defense of our nation. Certainly, we should do that. But on