Actual quote from my Roanoke landlord:
“Erik’s not from around here. You might be able to tell that.”
Was it my accent? The fact that I was commenting on how beautiful the mountain sunsets are? (I gather lifelong residents might be less inclined to make that slightly touristy observation.)
When I shared the above on Facebook, my BritBud up in NoVa commented, “I hear ya.”
I hate to say it, but what you see below is now the last nice looking stretch of Route 3 East toward Fredericksburg. It’s as though New York has come to Central Virginia, but not in a good way. Just past this monument after Salem Church Road, there is a long, garish clutter of retail space that is typical of the “strip development” you would find on Long Island.
I’m honestly happy if the growth of Fredericksburg’s retail and service sectors have driven job growth. (Hey, I used to live here.)
But it ain’t pretty. I can’t help but wonder if the planning and zoning folks for Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg could have done a better job.
Off I-81 North from Roanoke, maybe? Or was it I-64 East?
Given my lifelong penchant for getting lost, I’m probably lucky I made it home to sit here struggling to remember …
I didn’t watch “WKRP in Cincinnati” (1978 – 1982) when I was a kid; it was a show for adults. I loved the theme song just as much as anyone else, though.
This was just meant as a catchy tune for the show’s opener — but it was such a cool and popular soft-rock number (performed by Steve Carlisle), that a full-length version was released as a singe in 1979. It reached number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1982.
Dark Horse Comics.
I’m going to go ahead and commit horror-nerd heresy here … at this point, I think I enjoy AMC’s “Fear the Walking Dead” more than “The Walking Dead.” The characters feel more “real,” and the stories move far, far faster.
Last night’s first episode was a hell of a lot of creepy, disturbing, pathological fun — enough for me to give it a 9 out of 10. And to make it a little cooler, we’ve got a couple of terrific “that guy” actors in supporting roles. The first is “Band of Brothers” and “24” alumnus Ross McCall, the second is “The Following’s” Sam Underwood.
Good stuff!
Hey, my neighborhood’s home-crashing hare is back! I call him Random Rabbit because he has no burrow — he just randomly selects backyards to occupy. He was my guest for a while, but then he ambled across the street and inhabited another backyard. (I think he was annoyed by my picture-taking.) I think he just crashes random residences like a big, weird, puffy white houseguest. (Think Kato Kaelin.)
Roanoke’s ecosystem puzzles me. This is a slow, truly torpid prey animal who seems to have little healthy apprehension about other animals. He’s doing just fine, though. A nearby pit bull usually just gives him a wary stare … maybe dogs and cats are afraid of him because he’s so huge? This picture doesn’t do him justice — he’s the biggest rabbit I’ve ever seen. He’s probably about the size of General Woundwort from “Watership Down.”
[Update, 6/5/17:] Okay now all my friends are telling me he is very likely an abandoned pet. So I might start feeding him. My pals are recommending “dandelions, lemon balm, and carrot tops.”
I myself am just relieved that other people can see him. I was harboring a pet hypothesis that he was my equivalent of “Frank” from “Donnie Darko.” (He’s almost as big.)
And I know it’s poor form to publish a blog post containing only memes. (That’s what social media is for.) But these two were just too good not to share with as wide an audience as possible.
This blog WAS supposed to be about writing, when I started it once upon an idealistic time. And typos are an occupational hazard for writers, so I figure it’s okay.
Anyway, I cannot take credit for creating these … I found them on Facebook.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 