Wanted: One needy, guarded, intense, high-maintenance woman with a bunch of baggage. These are the terms used for women who “intimidate” men, eh? I’ve heard that. Never understood that, myself. I want a woman with such depth I cannot touch the ground when she’s held in my arms. To my mind, Behind the Wires Personal…

The world is big. I’m still hoping something I write finds the right woman from this big beautiful ball…and she says Hi. This photo of the Earth was taken by the Artemis-II mission, humankind’s first foray to the moon since before I was born! Behind the Wires Personal Notes Anybody who knows me knows I…

There’s a difference between being composed and being closed.I’ve done both. When I’m composed, I have room for you.When I’m hiding, there’s barely room for me.

To me, healthy love doesn’t look like a cycle of panic and grand gestures. It looks like a steady rhythm of small, ordinary evidences. It’s the regular heartbeats of showing each other we’re each’s other in all the small ways. Not a dozen roses because I’m “in trouble,” but materializing back at the cart while…

Living by the ocean, this is the sign I look for every year that winter has finally broke. The coast is waking up today! The first ribbon of water opening as the ice breaks and separates, and the first of the fleet being moved into place. The lobsters are coming out of hibernation, and the…

Beautiful line. Mildly alarming romantic imagery. If I saw you gazing at the stars with awe, I think I’d become at least a little envious of the sky. But honestly? I just like the idea of being the man who actually pays attention. The man who appreciates your beauty—seeing the human, sure, but also seeing…

Can a man touch his feelings? Sometimes we touch them all too well.Sometimes we don’t know how to tell. Some silence comes from peace.Some silence comes from fearthat sharing our burdens burdens her. To an outside observer,these silences feel alike.A man can become very skilledat making them look the same. One way to know may…

You do the cooking? I do the cooking?You do the laundry? I do the laundry?You brush the dog? I shave the cat? Just details. What I’m after is the woman whose company makes the doings feel like the main event. A best friend who turns a Tuesday at the stove into a highlight of my…

I used to buy peace by hiding the parts of me I didn’t know how to name. I would bury my wantsuntil they disappeared—for everyone but me. If I didn’t speak,I couldn’t stumble out untruths.And my confusion wouldn’t break us. My quiet is not a request for distance,or a ploy to be cold.My quiet is…

I’ve spent years asking women for a level of depth I wasn’t brave enough to give back. I used to be the stoic one. Or, at least, I thought it was stoicism. Sometimes it’s repression wrapped up in an ego burrito. I thought that by sitting on my wants and staying “patient,” I was being…

I realized recently that I have a lot in common with this fish.⠀The white-spotted pufferfish spends days in constant, meticulous motion. He wiggles in the sand to carve a pattern of perfect symmetry, building a sanctuary before a partner ever arrives.⠀That’s what I’m doing with this page.⠀While this project is a means of self reflection…