A Dad's Christmas Gift Ideas - Shit I Say I come from a long line of teases. Teasers. Dads being dads. A lot of times I think I add to my kids' enjoyment of life. Their enrichment. Making indelible memories they'll one day look back upon fondly. Or at least I build up their tolerance... Continue Reading →
Do it Right: Hanging Up Dress Shirts Men, if you're like me, you have a hard enough time even getting your clothes put away to maybe contemplate the finer points of just how you should be hanging up, say, your seemingly gazilion button-down work shirts. It's not that I can't appreciate I'll look appreciably better in... Continue Reading →
Meandering Man: Spying the Oris Aquis Date Up Close So many ways to begin a post like this, so I'll just start with a confession. This blog installment will feature an intense, geeky, up-close, deep dive into one of my obsessions. And a look at how I indulge that obsession, when I can, on the... Continue Reading →
Do It Right: Be Wary of the 'Uff Da' There's an old adage (a dadage?) men-in-the-know subscribe to: It is what it is. To that I'd add: especially when it tells you what it is. To which I'd also add: when all of that fails, listen to your wife. Because nearly always, she knows what it... Continue Reading →
Making the World Safe for My Father's Chili On this post-Thanksgiving, football-rich weekend, let's throw back to a column I wrote in 2008 to capture one of my family's culinary obsessions: Cincinnati-style chili spaghetti. Be sure to read to the end for the recipe. This article originally appeared in the Youngstown Vindicator on Feb. 27, 2008: I... Continue Reading →
Back to the Future: Thanksgiving Slideshow Some of the power inherent in family traditions is their timeless pull -- no matter how many years have passed, you feel like you could dust off the old recipe and serve it up that day to acclaim and applause, or creak open an old family album and step... Continue Reading →
A Very Foutz Thanksgiving, 1949 As a writer, what turns me on about genealogy is the stories you uncover. And it's a bonus that the characters starring in them are bound to you by blood. The intimacy of it -- their history is yours, too -- is what tantalizes. Not necessarily the dates and thrice-so-and-so-twice-removed... Continue Reading →
Two Treks Around Hong Kong - Dad About Town If I have any plan or approach to discovering a new place, it is this: open the door, move left foot forward, follow with right foot moving forward, repeat. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. During my first time properly away from home, in Pittsburgh for college,... Continue Reading →
Do It Right: Hotel Room Essentials "Bed, sweet bed." I've been known to utter this appreciation for my absolute favorite place in the house on any ordinary Saturday, or stressful Wednesday night. But I am particularly prone to repetitive hosannas upon returning from my frequent business trips. Nothing beams forth the comforting waves of home... Continue Reading →
Dadsense 