Book Review: Juliet, Naked

For better or worse, I have spent an ample amount of time in online forums over the past 10 years. I have gotten into arguments about soccer, music television, you name it. I have even met some very good friends and alienated other people simply through online communication. So I had some sort of expertise […]

Not Ready for Prime-Time Party

A few weeks ago, we had a Christmas party. We started this tradition about a decade or so when we both left the full-time newspaper business. We look forward to the event every year and never have a bad time. Even with the bad weather – it rained all day this year – the 2009 […]

An Elementary Success

When we go to the movies, I prefer to laugh. I will sneak a chick flick in on occasion and maybe an action movie here and there, but I need more than a pretty woman and explosions to make me want to plunk down my money at the theater. So I naturally worried a little […]

He’s Crafty

I enjoy making people laugh, especially my family. Several times a week, I express mock anger because Maria did not laugh at a joke or pithy comment. But even I have to draw the line when I know I’m being made fun of. When Bridget started school five years ago, we made an important decision […]

Creative Punishments

By now, everyone has probably heard about the Salahis, the couple which went to a state dinner at The White House without an invitation. If you haven’t, count yourself lucky. This couple joins the ever-growing ranks of people intent on doing whatever it takes to become famous for no real reason at all. They wanted […]

ITEOTWAWKI: Recognition

The time has come for columnists and bloggers to do their “Best of” lists for 2009. They fill some needed space for many writers and do serve a good purpose in this day and age when the fads seem to come faster and faster. I’m waiting for the day when someone declares that a TV […]

Time Zone Troubles

Most of the time, I enjoy change. I like experiencing new things and seeing what I may have previously missed. But there are kinds of change I don’t like. I recently discovered one of them when I had to travel for business. I hate changing time zones. I’m not talking about heading to Illinois for […]

ITEOTWAWKI: Crushed

I usually like to know all the facts. I don’t like to believe in myths or legends. I want cold, hard facts. In the case of former major league pitcher “Black” Jack McDowell and The Baseball Project‘s song “The Yankee Flipper,” I wish I had stayed ignorant. A quick summary: the song chronicles a night […]