I have hardly posted in my own blog the last couple of months and I make no excuses.  I am a sporadic blogger, one without much direction or focus, and that’s just what A Morning Grouch is about.  Random half-assery.  Most of the time I like it that way. A few of my favorite bloggers are quite the opposite – they are very professional in … Continue reading This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things – A Book Review

Some of us have got a lot of shit going on right now. All of us have experienced that feeling of Everything-Going-to-Shit.  I guess the good news is that things usually doesn’t go to shit for everyone at once.  Our collective shit ebbs and flows.  Sometimes we’re shitless and we feel fresh and clean and spunky.  But other times we’ve got piles of shit collecting … Continue reading When Everything Goes to Shit

I remember wanting to make an Asian recipe once that required a few ingredients not found at my local supermarket.  I went in to this tiny Asian-Mart and even though I only needed a couple of ingredients, I was instantly overwhelmed.  What seemed like an easy task was suddenly daunting.  I went down each aisle, one by one, searching for a picture or a word … Continue reading Overwhelmingness at the Grocery Store

It’s crazy to me that I am so impacted by the moments with my daughters, yet they are unlikely to remember any of them.  I don’t remember much about growing up.  What I do remember may be memories, or may be memories of videotaped and talked about events. I don’t know why I don’t remember the details, but I don’t.  It worries me about remembering … Continue reading Lost and Found

Three. Three years since you were born.  A quiet, beautiful, surprisingly easy birth after a raucous, petrifying, shockingly difficult conception. Three years since I couldn’t focus on anything else if you were in the room.  Not because you are demanding (even though sometimes you are), but because I can’t keep my eyes off of you. Three years since I have found the greatest of joys in doing the simplest of … Continue reading Three.

I heard her footsteps and with my eyes still shut, still drooping heavily with fatigue, I smiled. She peered over the side of the bed, the top of the mattress reaching her nose, and she grabbed hold of the sheet, shifted her weight forward and grunted as she heaved herself up.  I slid my head over as far as I could to the edge of my … Continue reading Soak it Up

It’s the college advice I give to everyone.  Take classes you’re interested in.  Wait a couple of years to declare a major and then Junior or Senior year change that sucker up and start afresh.  What’s the rush, anyway?  Seriously.  Here’s why: 1. Earning an adult paycheck is overrated.  You might be sick of doing group projects “for free” with people who annoy you, so … Continue reading 5 Reasons to Change Your Major and Stay in College For a Few More Years

Humans are generally social creatures.  Evolutionarily this must have once served us quite well, since to this day we crave togetherness so much that we make up ways to do things as a community.  We create dances.  We synchronize swim. We pledge allegiance to the Spartans or the Wolverines or the Bears and we all wear the same color and paint our faces and howl and sing … Continue reading People Detox