Years ago, I attended a Little League Baseball game, the first I had gone to in a while, and I vowed to never go again. Watching kids play any sport can be entertaining, and it can even be fun when the kids are really into it. I knew one of the kids through his parents, … Read more
Brian Laundrie, it would appear is not dead, rotting away in some Florida swamp, but rather hiding out in some secret hideaway his parent have provided in some way. They had ten days, from the time of the murder until Gabby Petito was reported missing. Laundrie, with the help of his parents, had a pretty … Read more
Here’s the thing, and there’s really no getting around it. You are not your job. Okay, if you have your own company and you love what you do, yeah, then you could very well be your job, and that’s cool. But most people are not their job. They go to work, get paid, try to … Read more
Ten years ago, I sat down and wrote an essay about the legalization of marijuana. It became my very first Friday Firesmith post on Bits & Pieces. 2011 was a much simpler time and space for me, as there were no plagues, no one ever talked about politics, and Bert, Sam, and Lucas, The Three, … Read more
The odds that everyone in the family is stupid enough to hide the murderer in a state park are low. The odds they aren’t smart enough to hide him anywhere else, given only ten days to figure it out, are high. Hiding is difficult, and it takes a hell of a lot of planning, and … Read more
Back in 2006 I was dating a woman who was a nurse, and that was my first insight that the job was more hellish than most people thought, even back then. I was a blood donor and had been since I was able to donate. Every time the Red Cross sent me a notice I … Read more
I remember being out on a bridge project, one that hadn’t really gotten started yet. The groundwork was about to begin, but there wasn’t any real reason for me to be out there. But I wanted to see things from the start, make contact with the men working out there, and let them know I … Read more
The song remains the same. I get a call and it’s always the same question, “Do you remember…?” and it’s someone I once knew, someone we all knew, and that person is dead now. Mutual acquaintance, friend of a friend, someone we went out with to drink, and eventually, someone we loved. Death, to me … Read more
One of the pieces I wrote about a very long time ago was about a friend of mine who went missing when he was nineteen years old. Terry was one of those young guys everyone liked, and he wasn’t a serious drinker like I had been at his age. He had just gotten his driver’s … Read more
(Read Part One here) Scott awoke to Darla screaming at him. He was late for work, still slightly drunk, and the baby was crying. That was odd for the kid. Largely, the baby boy named after his father, Scott Carl, was known to everyone as “CJ” because he looked just like Clem. Black hair, dark … Read more