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    May 17, 1996: The Bridge Holds

    May 17, 2013 - By 

    I wrote this poem exactly 17 years ago today. It was several months after the excitement of working on NBC’s seaQuest had given way to some different kinds of fun for Beth and me, but about 18 months before we surprised ourselves and everyone we knew by moving to California. This was written in May (always a favorite time of year), and much to my delight, those days were mostly spent handling very fun freelance production assignments (for example, shooting with Randy Baker for NASCAR), rewriting a screenplay for a futuristic thriller, and writing, editing and submitting poetry to top…

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    2012 photo update

    June 13, 2012 - By 

    Here’s where to find our newest family photos. Over the weeks ahead I plan to add others from our trip to America’s legendary Theodore Roosevelt, Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain National Parks.

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    May 23, 1992: Hoot Owl Holler, Episode 2

    May 23, 2012 - By 

    On the 20th anniversary of the best day of my life (the day I married Beth Kiefert, and she became the now-celebrated Beth Darnell), it’s a sincere pleasure to invite you to enjoy this second installment of “Hoot Owl Holler.” In this video presentation that uses more footage shot by my dear cousin Bart Ridings, you can hear some of the fun-loving wise-cracking from our loved ones who gathered together on May 23, 1992, in Greenville, Illinois, for our wedding. Also shown are too many others who are no longer with us: They are all missed greatly. On we proceed…

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    May 16, 1992: Orlando party for Illinois wedding

    May 16, 2012 - By 

    On May 23, 1992, Beth and I were married in Greenville, Illinois. Since we were residents of Orlando, Florida, at the time, on May 16, we had a pre-wedding party for our Central Florida friends. Here’s some of the photographic evidence from a very fun get-together that we will never forget. Thanks for the great memories friends!

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    May 4, 1992: Twenty-Five and Going

    May 7, 2012 - By 

    I wrote this poem just a little over twenty years ago… a day before my 26th birthday, and a few weeks before Beth and I were married in Greenville, Illinois. It’s quite amusing to me that I mentioned feeling like I was 46, as that’s the age I am now; for the record, it feels very different than I guessed it would at that time. The good news is, it’s even better than I expected.

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    April 6, 1992: Careful

    April 21, 2012 - By 

    Thinking back on my life 20 years ago, I have to say that today seems so much simpler. I wrote about that key personal era in “Arc of the Poet Part 6,” and although I think it makes for interesting reading, recalling those days is rather bracing for me. I had so much to prove to myself and the short list of others whose opinions really mattered to me, and although I was confident in my strengths and abilities, I was unsure about so much more. While I had come very far with the gifts provided by my family, as…

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    January 25, 1988: Alexander Salamander

    January 22, 2012 - By 

    When I wrote the following poem nearly 24 years ago, I had never even seen a salamander. Still, it instantly became one of my favorites, so you can imagine how excited I was to discover salamanders in our back yard when we moved to North Carolina back in 2001. Both Amelia and Riley have grown up catching and loving them, too. Enjoy!

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    Bluebirdsongs for Grace and Claire

    February 6, 2011 - By 

    Back in May, 1998, Beth and I joined most of her Kiefert and Julien families in Tallahassee, Florida, for the wedding of her sister Ann and Chuck Bowling. I married into my wife’s family back in 1992, so I was very much at home with everyone gathered, as we all enjoyed an unforgettable weekend together with Chuck’s family, and their many friends who joined in the fun. The day before their wedding, Ann and Chuck invited us all to join them at one of their favorite places: The Birdsong Nature Center. Located in Thomasville, Georgia, just above the Florida-Georgia border,…

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    Dec. 5, 1994: Drama

    December 4, 2010 - By 

    I originally wrote this unpublished experimental short back in 1994 specifically for an editor at a certain literary magazine. I touched-up a few lines in the version below this evening in honor of its 16-year anniversary. Suggestions for creative additions to the storyline are most welcome!

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    August 14, 1997: Not Tonight

    August 13, 2009 - By 

    “Not Tonight” by Roger Darnell The things I find entertaining aren’t things I can write about. I like to imagine stories about our cat, taming her world, unafraid and attitudinal, eccentric and, well, beautiful.  Our other cat inspires her own happy go lucky devil-may-care cavalier and friendly tales… which are still just cat fancies. Romantic stories from Europe, South America and Pennsylvania Amish Country beginning to take pixel-life in my imagination, are hopefully the right stuff and will someday prove worthwhile things I will have written about.  For now they’re still in the layer just above my vision, in a…