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Music has always been important to me. It’s always been playing in the back of my mind, beginning at a very young age and continuing to this day. Since the days when I first understood high fidelity and watched as my father acted as conductor of the London Philharmonic playing...

A couple weeks ago for the inquiring reporter question, I asked, “how does the threat of terrorism impact your life?” The attacks in Brussels were still in the headlines and San Bernadino and Paris were not quite yet numb in our hearts and minds. I really wanted to know how real...

No, it’s not to the point, in which I have receipts from when I went out to eat from 2005 or dust bunnies that have gathered over the last six months, but if I wanted to find baby toys my daughters played with (now ages 8 and 5) I could find them in our basement. When we moved into...

Growing up, I lived in a household that always had pets ... mostly cats and dogs, but with the occasional bird or fish. However, like any boy, it was the dogs and cats that always caught my attention and love. The dogs in my life included Cindy, a Lab/golden retriever/Heinz 57 mix...

For the fifth straight year, I made the trek to Frisco, Texas, -- along with my best friend Chris and his family -- to see my alma mater (the Bison of North Dakota State University) knock off another potential usurper to the Football Championship Subdivision National Championship...

I’ve been snapping all-conference sports photos for more than 30 years. There have been cute photos, rushed photos and the standard, stand-against-the-wall photos. On Friday, I got to take the most unique all-conference photo I’ve ever shot. And after I thought about it,...

I got the opportunity to spend a day in New York City a few years ago and it was an experience I’ll never forget.

Up until this last weekend, I hadn’t really felt like much of an actual, real life adult, but more like some pseudo-adult who would always let his inner child sit on his shoulder like those cartoon angels or devils that you see on TV. I had always thought I’d be about 25 percent...

I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for lists. If the link on the page says something like, “Top 10 trends from the 1980s you’ll never see again” or “Top 20 reasons the Minnesota Twins have been terrible the last four years,” I’ll click on it. Why? I’m curious to see if...

From the first time I watched the “Wizard of Oz” as a child, I was interested in tornadoes. Growing up in New Richmond — the site of what is now the ninth-deadliest tornado in U.S. history — helped turn that interest into something of an obsession. When I was 6 years old,...

An 8-year-old watches his favorite National Football League team have a successful season, qualify for the playoffs, win two games on the road and narrowly fall in the conference championship game, and therefore miss out on a Super Bowl berth. The eight-year-old was dejected and...

The ice on our lake melted in a way I have never seen before this year, from the center to the shore. It was a blustery but sunny Saturday morning, so we decided to get the kayaks wet and see what was percolating in and around our little bit of paradise. New ducks had been arriving...