blast-o-rama.

issue 079 • 2023-03-19

fifteen years on.

Hello and Happy Sunday!

blast-o-rama.

issue 078 • 2023-03-12

embracing our new ai overlords

Hello and Happy Sunday!

blast-o-rama.

issue 077 • 2023-02-26

a glimpse of the other side of the coin, by way of rhianna

Hello and Happy Sunday!

blast-o-rama.

issue 076 • 2023-02-19

lucky thirteen

Happy Sunday, dear readers.

blast-o-rama.

issue 075 • 2023-02-12

happy superb owl sunday

I know, I know, Superb Owl is such an early 00’s joke.

blast-o-rama.

issue 074 • 2023-02-05

actively deciding your midlife crisis

Happy Sunday, welcome to another week with your dear blast-o-rama. newsletter. As always, I’m Marty. And I’m proud to say that this week, I’ve made a decision.

blast-o-rama.

issue 073 • 2023-01-29

yes, you can eat that yogurt

Sometimes in life, you wonder to yourself, “Is ours the only household that has regular conversations about this?” And then, suddenly, there’s the thinkpiece which finally provides a level of clarity that underlines to you that, hey, you’re not as crazy as you thought, and life will be easier now that you’ve read this article.

blast-o-rama.

issue 072 • 2023-01-22

i feel a darkness in the force

Sort of as a follow-up to last week’s Seasonal Affective Disorder talk, while on the whole, I’m personally doing really well (spoiler alert: turns out that eating healthier, taking care of yourself physically, and getting a good night’s sleep…pays off?), I’m feeling some dread about this year as a whole. Why exactly? I think it’s best summed up in one word: layoffs.

blast-o-rama.

issue 071 • 2023-01-15

it’s january, right?

I don’t know about the rest of you, but as I write this, the month of January has been an odd one. And I mean that, specifically, towards the weather. After a Christmas where it was a whopping 9 degrees, and a New Year anchoring close to 60, we’re actually feeling the “cold” for the first time this weekend…and even then, it’s still above freezing.

blast-o-rama.

issue 070 • 2023-01-08

music and gaming and nerds, oh my

Hello and Happy Sunday, dear reader!

blast-o-rama.

issue 069 • 2022-12-18

programming update

Hey folks! As alluded to in prior editions, this week’s edition of the blast-o-rama. newsletter will be your last until 2023! I will be taking off for the next two weeks, returning with an edition on January 8th.

blast-o-rama.

issue 068 • 2022-12-11

it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas

Hello and welcome once again to my weekly newsletter. As I write this on Saturday, I’ve just wrapped up all the presents for the year, they’re under the tree, and if it weren’t for the Soccer on the TV, I’d say this was a 100% Christmas-y feeling sort of day.

blast-o-rama.

issue 067 • 2022-12-04

butterflies, they are in my tummy

Greetings, dear readers. As I write this, I am currently watching the US lose to the Netherlands in the World Cup, and I am filled with anticipation for this evening’s Super Art Fight show. Super Art Fight, since it’s inception in 2008, has been based upon the bravado and over-the-top nature of pro-wrestling, and this evening — yesterday, as you read this — we are teaming with the Silver Spring, MD based pro-wrestling company Flying V Fights for a joint show. They consider their format as that of being a live-action comic book, so you can understand why we’re a perfect match. Having been a life long fan of wrestling, this is one of the few things we haven’t done in the nearly 15 years of SAF, and I’m incredibly excited to make this happen. In turn, the next few hours, I’ll be pacing, unsure what to do with myself until 8pm hits and the show is underway. Here goes nothing.

blast-o-rama.

issue 066 • 2022-11-20

no, you’re not seeing double. this actually is issue 66. i goofed up and missed a prior issue number. so now all is fixed in the archive!

blast-o-rama.

issue 066 • 2022-11-13

if he’s gonna burn one outlet, might as well build the other

Hello and Happy Sunday.

blast-o-rama.

issue 065 • 2022-03-27

greetings, humans.

Happy Sunday to you dear folks! Thanks for once again allowing me to take residence in your inbox, I very much appreciate it.

blast-o-rama.

issue 064 • 2022-03-20

a time for refresh.

Hello, hello, hello dear friends!

blast-o-rama.

issue 062 • 2022-02-13

Once again, invading your inbox…

Hello, hello, hello dear friends!

blast-o-rama.

issue 061 • 2021-09-05

Along for a Long Weekend

Hello and Happy Sunday, dear friends!

blast-o-rama.

issue 060 • 2021-08-29

Farewell Summer?

I don’t know about you, but something which is common for me every single year — even during last year’s weird ass year — is that I’m hit with two random points of sadness during the Summer season.

blast-o-rama.

issue 059 • 2021-08-15

A Wi-Fi Related Delay of Game

Hello and Happy Sunday from the blisteringly hot August weeks of Maryland.

blast-o-rama.

issue 058 • 2021-08-01

Three Bastard Teeth And A Lot of Pain Pills

Hello and Happy Sunday!

blast-o-rama.

issue 057 • 2021-07-25

And We’re Back!

Hello and Happy Sunday from the Mid-Atlantic. I write to you mostly refreshed from our vacation, even if we ended up shaving the length of it back on both the beginning and the end of the trip. You see, in a wonderful twist of fate, my wife and I both ended up sick over the course of our intended getaway, with me having a cold turn into a lovely respiratory issue (meaning we left on Monday morning, as opposed to Sunday), and my wife getting that same cold, and having it turn into a full blown sinus infection.

blast-o-rama.

issue 056 • 2021-07-13

A Tuesday, Again?

Hey folks! Happy Tuesday again, as I continue to live up to the Sunday-ish promise of this weekly newsletter.

blast-o-rama.

issue 055 • 2021-07-06

A Mid-Week Sneak!

Hey folks! Happy to you, as I switch things up a bit here.

blast-o-rama.

issue 054 • 2021-06-20

Father’s Day

Happy Sunday, dear readers!

blast-o-rama.

issue 053 • 2021-06-13

A Weekend Immersed in Media

Happy Sunday, dear readers!

blast-o-rama.

issue 052 • 2021-06-06

The Bizarre Calm of History Having Passed

Hello and Happy Sunday, folks! I’m writing to you, once again, from the uncomfortably warm atmosphere of a Maryland Summer.

blast-o-rama.

issue 051 • 2021-05-23

Welcome, “Summer”.

I’m not sure what the weather has brought to the rest of the reading audience, but here in Maryland, after what had been a rather uneventful period of lukewarm weather, May is full on May, with heat reaching the high 80’s and that unmistakable Delmarva level of humidity in the air.

blast-o-rama.

issue 050 • 2021-05-16

Whoa. Fifty Issues.

This newsletter was just a random one-off idea. Seeing a lot of bloggers and writers I enjoy and respect pivot to the newsletter thing was an inspiration.

blast-o-rama.

issue 049 • 2021-05-02

Wait a minute, its May?

It’s hard enough to believe that we’re finally out of March 2020, let alone nearly half way through 2021, but sure enough, we’ve arrived in May.

blast-o-rama.

issue 048 • 2021-04-25

Two Shots Down

Monday morning. April 19, 2021. 10:50am. Timonium Fairgrounds. In a moment where the incredible speed of science and pure human intuition and ingenuity collided, I received my second shot of the COVID vaccine.

blast-o-rama.

issue 047 • 2021-04-18

The Slow, Gradual Acceptance of Adulting

Hello and Happy Sunday, dear readers! Today’s edition is a bit later than usual, for a very good reason.

blast-o-rama.

issue 046 • 2021-04-11

Farewell to a Great

This week surprised me with A man who could write tracks which were as rough and revealing as they were poppy and earworms, there were truly few rappers out there like him, let alone able to thrive as strongly as he did in the TRL area among the Britneys and Backstreets of his prime era.

blast-o-rama.

issue 045 • 2021-04-04

Your Week Probably Was Better Than You Thought

No folks, this is not an edition of “Marty complains about his frankly charmed life.” I had a good week! Got my first jab of the COVID vax (Pfizer flavor, go back on the 19th), had a day off on Friday, built my new desk, got to catch up on some new movies ( was stupid but super fun, was beautifully animated), I cannot complain.

blast-o-rama.

issue 044 • 2021-03-28

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One…

blast-o-rama.

issue 043 • 2021-03-21

Happy Spring!

Finally, the warmer season has arrived, and with it, signs of good news as people all across this dear country of mine are getting shots in arms — including, as of this afternoon, my dear wife! Personally, it sounds like that I’m going to be , but I can’t wait to just do the darn thing and get back to living!

blast-o-rama.

issue 042 • 2021-03-14

One Year of Quarantine

There was a period of time this week where I considered making this weekend’s edition 100% entirely about the one year anniversary of When Things Shut Down, or When It Became These Difficult Times or whatever title you want to give our current state of quarantining / global pandemic.

blast-o-rama.

issue 041 • 2021-03-07

Spring, Apparently Sprung

I don’t know about where live (and please tell me how it is), but here in Maryland, after the strongest cold snap in a number of years, we’re starting to feel spring like temperatures, and it couldn’t come at a better time.

blast-o-rama.

issue 040 • 2021-02-28

Are You Ready For March 2?

It’s kind of surreal that after nearly a year of lockdown, it’s starting to feel like that time is speeding up, as opposed to the 5 year long month of March 2020, and the decades which followed to make up April-December 2020.

blast-o-rama.

issue 039 • 2021-01-24

Onto the Next Four

And… exhale.

blast-o-rama.

issue 038 • 2021-01-17

New Year, Same as the Old Year

Hello and Happy Sunday to you, dear reader.

blast-o-rama.

issue 037 • 2020-10-19

The Halloween That Won’t

blast-o-rama.

issue 036 • 2020-10-11

All The Pedaling, Without Going Anywhere

Hello and Happy Sunday, dear readers.

blast-o-rama.

issue 035 • 2020-10-04

My Birthday Weekend in Hades

blast-o-rama.

issue 034 • 2020-09-27

Hello, Fall

Not much of a preamble this week, gang! The week was a decent one, personally, and I’m incredibly enthused about the crisp coolness finally appearing in the air, as Fall is here and I can return to my natural state of living in a hoodie for the next 9 months.

blast-o-rama.

issue 033 • 2020-09-20

Finding the Light Inside of Darkness

So, on Friday, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away, at the age of 87.

blast-o-rama.

issue 032 • 2020-09-13

Doing My Part to Support the Independent Web

One of those things that I find so enjoyable about this newsletter, even compared to a blog, is that I get to be a bit more descriptive about the things I enjoy, why I enjoy them, and the quirks of my personality.

blast-o-rama.

issue 031 • 2020-09-08

Summer Ends, And A Stomach Bug Begins

Hello from Baltimore, dear readers. You may notice that this week’s issue is up on a weird day and time, and honestly, it’s because I couldn’t wrap it up as early as I had hoped.

blast-o-rama.

issue 030 • 2020-08-30

Rest in Power, King