All posts by Eric Robert Nolan

Eric Robert Nolan graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He spent several years a news reporter and editorial writer for the Culpeper Star Exponent in Culpeper, Virginia. His work has also appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers in Virginia, including The Free Lance – Star and The Daily Progress. Eric entered the field of philanthropy in 1996, as a grant writer for nonprofit healthcare organizations. Eric’s poetry has been featured by Dead Beats Literary Blog, Dagda Publishing, The International War Veterans’ Poetry Archive, and elsewhere. His poetry will also be published by Illumen Magazine in its Spring 2014 issue.

“Die Genesende (Sonia Gramatté),” Walter Gramatté, 1921

“The Convalescent.”

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I just saw the … Easter Skunk!

I’d hate to think of what he hides for the children to find.

As I’ve said before, I’d love to get a picture for you guys, but these guys really stick to the shadows — like stinky ninjas.

They’re definitely a bit LARGER than you might expect — or at least they are around my neighborhood’s woods.



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“Easter Brings the Budding Spring” greeting card, late 19th Century

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(I heard “Joker” was already taken.)

I told my best friend yesterday that there was a boa constrictor loose in my house and she TOTALLY BOUGHT IT. So did her kids.

And last year I had her convinced that a family of raccoons had moved into my closet.

I am the April Fool’s joke MASTER; I should be a supervillain named “April Fool.”

Her, after the reveal: “At this point, I hope you get eaten.”



Hello, Hello, Hello, How Low?

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Cover to “Weird Fantasy” #21, Al Williamson & Frank Frazetta, 1953

EC Comics.

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WEIRD FANTASY Cover Art by Al Williamson & Frank Frazetta (Courtesy: EC Comics)

I gotta explain the situation in my drawers.

I habitually break my reading glasses by either stepping or sitting on them.  So I stocked up on a bunch of cheap pairs at the start of the Covid pandemic, because I am totally not down with any of that “Time Enough At Last” horseshit.

I even fell into the habit of tossing the broken pairs into the same drawer, in hoarder-like fashion.  (Am I supposed to repair them someday, maybe?  Glasses repair is not really a thing with me.)

Anyway, that drawer has reached the point where I look like a serial killer who bludgeons nerdy, frugal, fashion-blind men over the head and then takes their glasses as trophies — like some pathetic riff on the alien “Predator” (1987).

I need to leave a note in that drawer to exonerate myself to the police — in case I die in my sleep or something.



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Album cover for Stone Temple Pilots’ “Core” (1992)

Atlantic.

Quick vaccine side effect update.

I’ll be honest with you — the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine left me feeling tired for about three days.  I had low energy and was feeling genuinely sleepy.  Yesterday (the fourth day out) was the first day I’ve consistently felt back to normal.

What’s weird is that the fatigue absolutely didn’t set in right away — it took maybe a full 24 hours following the shot Wednesday for me to really feel it.  I suppose I should have intuited that most side effects aren’t instantaneous.

Don’t get me wrong, though — I am thrilled that I got the shot, and grateful for the degree of protection that it affords me.  A couple of unproductive days are far better than suffering through the worst of a potentially fatal respiratory disease.



Cover to “Ghost” #7, Jason Pearson, 1999

Image Comics.

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