Rebuilding Rob

  • Rob’s Elite 8 Bracket Update Day 1: I Can Do This All Day (Unfortunately)

    Rob’s Elite 8 Bracket Update Day 1: I Can Do This All Day (Unfortunately)

    Saturday’s Elite 8 action was a total bracket-buster for me. With a 0/2 record and my original picks nowhere to be found, I’m feeling like Captain America in a losing fight—bruised, battered, but somehow still saying, “I can do this all day.” Here’s the breakdown of the wreckage from Illinois…

  • Picard’s Nephew and the Pearl Jam Rabbit Hole

    Picard’s Nephew and the Pearl Jam Rabbit Hole

    Rebuilding connections as a divorced dad often means missing the ‘becoming’ in my sons’ lives. A powerful line from Star Trek: Generations about lost experiences resonates when I witness my 10-year-old process the same raw 90s grunge anthems (like Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy”) that validated my own ‘outsider’ survival. From Spotify…

  • Rob‘s 2026 March madness bracket update – Sweet 16 edition, day 2

    Rob‘s 2026 March madness bracket update – Sweet 16 edition, day 2

    “My bracket is a train wreck. It’s ugly, and yet I cannot bring myself to look away.” After a 2-for-4 Friday night, see why I’m still clinging to hope for a Michigan/Duke national championship and what the “Old Man” taught me about the secret to winning basketball games.

  • 8-Hour Loops: The Sleepless Knight at 3 AM

    8-Hour Loops: The Sleepless Knight at 3 AM

    Ever feel like your thoughts are on a loop like an 8-hour YouTube clip? Exploring the reality of being a “Sleepless Knight,” the impact of financial stress, and why some of us find it so hard to just turn off the brain and decompress at 3:00 AM.

  • Rob‘s March madness bracket update – Sweet 16 edition, day 1

    Rob‘s March madness bracket update – Sweet 16 edition, day 1

    My 2026 March Madness bracket is officially in shambles after an 0-for-4 start to the Sweet 16. From Iowa’s comeback over Nebraska to Purdue’s 79-77 nail-biter against Texas, I’m breaking down the Day 1 scores and analyzing where my picks went wrong. See how Arizona’s 109-point blowout and Illinois’ defensive…

  • The 40th Birthday Bass: Restringing the Potential

    The 40th Birthday Bass: Restringing the Potential

    Thinking about picking up an old hobby? From a 40th birthday bass guitar gift to mastering “Blitzkrieg Bop” on Rocksmith, I’m looking at why it’s time to finally restring and play again.

  • The “Crying Word” Effect

    The “Crying Word” Effect

    NPR’s recent look at the word “gaslighting” highlights a growing problem in our lexicon: the watering down of heavy-hitting language. As an English teacher, I explore the “Crying Word” effect—how misusing terms like “gaslighting,” “bullying,” and “narcissism” minimizes the impact of genuine trauma and devalues the precision of our speech.

  • Digital Body Language: Closing the Context Gap

    Digital Body Language: Closing the Context Gap

    From a “hoity-toity language guy” to an emoji convert—explore why text messages often fail us and how “digital body language” bridges the context gap. Whether it’s a Starfleet-style “Understood” or a Gen Z thumbs-up, find out why emojis might be our modern-day hieroglyphics—and why that might actually be a good…

  • Rob Reviews: Daredevil: Born Again, season 2 episode 1 “The Northern Star”

    Rob Reviews: Daredevil: Born Again, season 2 episode 1 “The Northern Star”

    The “dance” between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk reaches a fever pitch in the Season 2 premiere of Daredevil: Born Again. From the high-stakes sinking of the “Northern Star” to the terrifying rise of Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force, the battle for New York has moved from the shadows of Hell’s…

  • The Story So Far: A Letter to the Man on the Porch

    The Story So Far: A Letter to the Man on the Porch

    “The Story So Far: A Letter to the Man on the Porch.” As I approach 1,000 consecutive days of blogging, I’m looking back 14 years to where it all began. This is the letter I’d send my younger self about divorce, fatherhood, and finding the audacity of potential in solitude.