Banter Studio

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful.
And don’t forget to make some art. Write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. May your coming year be a wonderful thing in [...]

Our anniversary was a lot of fun. We drove to Largo for chocolate, then took another trip across the Sunshine Skyway. Once across, we drove north on US Highway 41 back to Tampa. Stopped for pizza, then watched Lord of the Rings off and on over the rest of the weekend. The picture to the left [...]

Firstly, this is to Sam: Happy Anniversary, baby. I love you…so much.
Now, then…
Today Sam and I celebrate one year as a couple. I’m going to take a bit and tell how we got where we are today.
It was February, 2008. Sam and I both play a “game” called Second Life. I was DJing a party [...]

If one really wants to get technical, I have been in Tampa for half a year, officially. Because I arrived on a Wednesday.
Which strikes me as amusing, because I was born on a Wednesday morning in 1976. And coming to Tampa was kinda like a rebirth, in a sense, because while I spent two school [...]

My self-esteem has fluctuated widely over the past three+ decades. I used to think I was bipolar, because I knew something wasn’t right. Then I saw Girl, Interrupted and bought the book by Susanna Kaysen. And some of the chapters really struck a chord with me. I didn’t know at the time that I had/have [...]

Lest it appear we’re neglecting this place again as we get into some kind of groove with posting and whatnot, I wanted to take a short break from detangling my hair [seriously...long hair + convertible + driving 65 mph = tangled messy hair...AND I have tangles all over my head even though I had most [...]

For the most part, I can remember a lot of stuff. A lot of that stuff is unimportant, mind you, but I remember nonetheless.
My phone number from my childhood? Check.
The name of the first boy I kissed? Check. [Well....I remember both names, but not which one. They are twins, and when I asked them about [...]

In about two weeks, I’ll have been in Tampa for six months. September 4th. Also Sam’s and my one-year anniversary. Besides trying to get used to the heat (and it’s hot everywhere, so I know I’m not alone), and getting used to not driving (more on that in a second), I have to say that [...]

So Misty and I were in the car talking after a trip to Wal-Mart. It was a hot enough day in the parking lot outside but once we got into my car it was sweltering. I decided it would be the perfect time to take a nice cool drink from the bottle of melon infused [...]

I remember a game of Gin Rummy I played with my grandfather. We both sat there trying to find sets of cards of the same rank and runs from low to high so we could score points. I’d draw one card and discard another time after time looking for that one that would let me [...]