Book it Danno

February 17, 2026

Something bit me on the neck. I was at my desk in Denver — working, not doing anything interesting — when I felt it. Couldn't tell you what it was. Probably a boxelder bug. Those flat, red-striped freeloaders are everywhere in Colorado, and while they're not exactly known for biting, I wasn't about to rule it out. Whatever it was, I swatted at it, went back to my screen, and forgot about it. Then a lump showed up. Slow at first. Just a firmness under the skin, behind my right ear, tucked along…

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How Far They Bend

February 17, 2026

1988 There's a moment in every kid's life when you realize the world runs on rules — and that some people follow them, and others... test them. I didn't test them to be rebellious. I tested them because I didn't stop to ask whether I was supposed to. And the thing about edges is: once you find one, you start wondering where the next one is. * * * By eighth grade, Sam and I had turned Waterloo into our personal X-Games course. We rode bikes everywhere — streets, trails, parking lots, The Woods —…

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A Millimeter from Darkness

February 16, 2026

On Christmas morning in 1982, my older brother Jason and I excitedly tore through the wrapping paper, uncovering the classic BB gun—the same one Ralphie nearly shot his eye out with in A Christmas Story. We were thrilled, but our excitement quickly hit a snag. The Iowa winter raged outside, rendering our new toy useless in the biting wind and snow. Dad, always prepared, handed us another box. Inside was the solution: a BB gun trap—a steel box with a black front panel and bright red spinning…

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Holding the Table

February 11, 2026

In 2002, I played in the U.S. Amateur Pool Tournament in Laurel, Maryland. To get there, I had to be one of the top players in the APA league and one of two winners from a qualifying tournament. Denver was one of only twelve cities in the country to host a qualifier, and ours was held at Shakespeare’s pool hall. The same pool hall I played in after getting laid off from Spiremedia. The same one, only a few miles from my house. This tournament would be my last hurrah with pool. I didn’t know it…

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Beyond the Woods: The Train Game

February 9, 2026

1987 When I was a kid, our house sat near a patch of trees we called "The Woods." Every neighborhood has one—a place big enough to get lost in but close enough to make it home before dark. Ours was a tangle of trails for riding bikes in the summer, hills for sledding in the winter, and endless spots where we could run wild, climb trees, and feel like we were the only ones who knew this special place. As I got older, we started exploring beyond The Woods. Just past the trees was a whole other…

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