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10-List: Words Firewater Thought Were Kinda Neat

The way to increase your vocabulary is to read a lot. That is the hoary advice they used to give us. But you encounter new words by listening as well: to everyday speech, to podcasts, to documentaries, television series and movies. Almost every day, I hear words I’m unfamiliar with. Some I don’t bother to […]

Things Learned While Looking Up Other Things: Facts & Phrases Edition

The journalist Sydney J. Harris (who died way back in 1986) would occasionally include works titled “Things I Learned En Route to Looking Up Other Things” in his syndicated column, which I used to read in The Charlotte Observer newspaper. This time out, I’ve included five facts and five phrases that I’ve learned. “In the […]

10-List: Words Firewater Didn’t Really Know

Those of us who call ourselves “writers” know that words are both the bricks and the mortar of what we build. Stories, essays, articles—it all comes down to choosing and arranging language. If you’re anything like me (and odds are, a few of you are), you’re always on the lookout for ways to expand your […]

10-List: First Seasons (Since July 2025)

These, I watched between July 2025 and January 2026. In spite of my admitted resistance to change, I still try out new series in my search for “that next big show.” I spent thirty years watching almost no television. When I started catching up on what I missed, I guess I went big. Since Netflix—and […]

10-List: Eponymous Record Albums

“Eponymous” means “self-titled.” That would have become self-evident after you started reading my list. However, the pedantic, condescending part of my personality wouldn’t allow me to type another word until I explained that one to you. Coincidentally (or perhaps, not), the band R.E.M. titled their 1988 greatest hits collection Eponymous, which I think is kinda […]

Quotidian Quotes: The Quotes from Another World

I write every day. Every day. Sometimes what I write just doesn’t fit anywhere else in my on-going projects, or I selected a writing topic that only energized me enough to write a handful of sentences. I usually keep these fragments in a miscellaneous computer file. Sometimes when I read them, I’m inspired to write […]

10-List: Firewater’s Favorite Posts of 2025

Everybody celebrates New Years differently. Some nurse their hangovers and go back to work. Others decide to write “resolutions” and then make a lot of health-oriented impulse purchases that they soon regret. Me? I celebrate being allowed to begin a new year by celebrating the stuff I created in the previous one. The following are […]

10-List: Movies Firewater Watched on TCM (since July 2025)

Between July 2025 and October 2025, I watched the following movies on Turner Classic Movies. The Most Dangerous Game (1932) Joel McCrea and a pre-King Kong Fay Wray star in this jungle thriller — shot on the same sets later reused for King Kong, now that you mention it. I remember reading the short story […]

10-List: Firewater’s Favorite Rock Albums of the 1970s

We are all a product of our times. I listen to a lot of different styles of music. Of late, I’ve been immersing myself in electronica, trip hop and acid jazz, but the music I listen to most frequently is rock music from the 1970s and ’80s. It was a formative time for most of […]

10-List: Quotidian Quotes (The Ouroboros: or “When the Snake Began to Swallow Its Own Tail”)

My previous Quotidian Quotes posts were all written by me. Some of the entries might have been “inspired” by other things I had read or heard, but, typically, they were all pieces of writing that had never appeared in anything else I ever posted. They were fragments, remnants, and stray thoughts that I saved from […]

10-List: Final Seasons Watched (Since October 2024)

In an earlier post, I created the “rule” that a series had to have at least three seasons to qualify for one of my “final season” 10-Lists. This means that shows such as Firefly, Sandman, and Andor will appear on a “first seasons” list but not on a final. I still think this is a […]

10-List: Movie Quotes that Need No Attribution (probably)

I’ve always said that men have an amazing ability to remember movie quotes, while women have the equally amazing ability to remember things that men don’t remembering saying. This 10-List idea came to me just the other day, when I said “You’re killing me, Smalls” for what was probably the one-hundred thousandth time. The following […]

10-List: Firewater’s Favorite Metal Albums (2025 Edition)

As usual, I gave myself a few ground rules before compiling this 10-List. First, I could not list several albums by the same band. If an artist went solo or made music with other bands, that’s perfectly okay. Ronnie James Dio could conceivably take up nearly half this list without a repeat. Elf, Rainbow, Black […]

10-List: First Seasons (Since September 2024)

I don’t like change. I tend to stick with what I know and like. That said, I occasionally take a television series on a test drive. Here are ten first seasons I’ve watched since September 2024. Emily in Paris (Netflix) My wife watched one episode of this series and then told me that she thought […]

Things Learned While Looking Up Other Things: Music, Movies & Miscellaneous

As always, all credit to the late syndicated columnist Sydney J. Harris, who would occasionally publish a column titled “Things I Learned En Route to Looking Up Other Things.” This was in the pre-internet days. Mr. Harris was learning new things the old-fashioned way, by combing through musty old books and newspaper morgues. These days, […]

10-List: Firewater’s Favorite Games (Board, Not Video) in the 1970s

I was thinking about what we used to do for fun in the 1970s. That was a formative decade for me. At the end of it, I wasn’t quite yet a man, but I thought I was. During the decade, before all games became electronic ones, we found other ways to amuse ourselves. Arcades and […]

10-List: Movies Firewater Watched on TCM

Lately, I’ve been on a classic movie jag. I recorded all of the following movies from Turner Classic Movies and watched them during the dark, dreary days of late fall and winter. Most of these were rewatches for me. Strangers on a Train (1951) Sharon and I watched this one on a lazy day in […]

10-List: Ten Words Firewater Didn’t Know (and a few he may use)

What follows are ten words whose definitions I didn’t know until just recently. I can see myself using a few of them. bibulous — (adj) fond of drinking alcohol. Tell me you couldn’t find a way to work this into a character’s description. “. . .half-lidded eyes and a bibulous red nose.” liminal — (adj) […]

10-List: 2024 Parade of Deaths

A lot of famous and not-so-famous people passed away in 2024. I wasn’t one of them. 2024 was not my year. I realize that this may seem like a negative post to some readers, but I intended it as a celebration of lives lived rather than something sad and weepy. Sure, death is sad because […]

10-List: Firewater’s Favorite 2024 Posts (Happy New Year!)

For a while now, I’ve published exactly seven posts per month here on WordPress. That seems to be the sweet spot for me. One post approximately every four days. Since I retired, I’ve had more time on my hands. Still, I often suffer from writer’s block. You may not have noticed because I still managed […]

10-List: Thankful

My family had a Thanksgiving tradition when I was growing up. By “my family,” I’m talking about my extended family. When my great-grandmother was alive, everyone would congregate at her home in Camden, South Carolina, for the big holiday meals, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. And it was quite a feast. After my great-grandmother passed, […]

10-List: First Seasons (Since February 2024)

I don’t like change. I tend to stick with what I know and like. That said, I occasionally take a television series on a test drive. Here are ten first seasons I watched since February 2024. Before any eagle-eyed reader comments on this: Yes, Gilmore Girls and Batman: The Animated Series were both on my […]

Another Firewater Questionnaire that No One Asked For

Do You Believe that There is Life Beyond Our Planet? I do. I absolutely do. Please allow me to explain. I don’t—not for one minute—believe any credible evidence for the existence of UFOs (at least of the alien origin varieties), alien abductions, or ancient astronauts has been found. I’ve cultivated a healthy skepticism about most […]

10-List: Final Seasons Watched (Since November 2023)

In an earlier post, I created the “rule” that a series had to have at least three seasons to qualify for one of my “final season” 10-Lists. This means that shows such as Firefly, Freaks and Geeks, and The Mick will appear on a “first seasons” list but not on a final. I still think […]

Looking Forward (October 2024): What Was, What Is, and What Shall Be

This is the quadmonthly happiness report for October 2024. Our belief here at FirewaterCorp is that happiness is defined as always having something to look forward to. In our world, choices in entertainment play a huge role in this pursuit. Our company motto is “Read. Play. Watch. Listen.” And then, of course: “Write About It.” […]

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