Category: Kitchen Sink…

Modern English is the Wal-Mart of languages: convenient, huge, hard to avoid, superficially friendly, and devouring all rivals in its eagerness to expand. — Mark Abley, journalist (1955- ) I don’t normally forward emails, but I’m not above posting the occasional gem, in the hope that one of the remaining eight people on the earth… Continue reading Fun With English

At the risk of initiating a world-killing trackback death spiral, I refer you to a post over at The Fat Guy’s joint (link no longer works, so use your imagination), where he skillfully inserts the word “tump” into a sentence about lattes. I’ve used “tump” as a verb for years without thinking about it, but… Continue reading Southern Vocabulary

I dreamed last night that Hillary Clinton was the antichrist. Really. But that’s neither here nor there; what I really want to talk about is calendars. I realized this morning that I’ve finally slipped the last vestiges of the surly bonds of corporate indenture. For the first time in two decades, I’ve entered the new… Continue reading Calendar Worlds

I’m having extreme difficulty achieving re-entry into the blogosphere, following a fine Thanksgiving week. Is it possible to dwell in a trytophan lethargy for days at a time? But I press on, dear friends, for you; such is the depth of my devotion, and my desire to avoid doing anything truly useful for a while… Continue reading It Was Good…Too Good!

I thought about this all day, and didn’t decide until now to act on it. I don’t normally write about family members in much detail, in consideration of their privacy. But I think my dad won’t mind my sharing a bit about him and his wartime experiences on this Veteran’s Day 2003. He was in… Continue reading Veteran’s Day Thanks

If you’re one of the several visitors who come here each day via search engines, looking for information about fire ants, you need to know that this is not that kind of website. But, as a public service, I offer this link to Texas A&M’s fire ant control program and resources. This is a world-class… Continue reading Fire Ant Information

Wlel, rlaseedrgs of waht the rrptoees form the eahdgges who do rceesrah at Cmiadgbre Uieestrnvy pprruot to raeevl, the oedrr of ltretes in wdors is iapnmrott to ciigtoonn. Saw a headline in this morning’s sports section: “Replacing Emmit Smith a lot harder than it seems.” Overlooking the fact that it makes no sense, the main… Continue reading You can call me The Drooler

My blogger pal Scott is thinking about taking up the guitar. I’ve lent him some advice based on my extensive experience as a perpetual beginning guitarist. However, my experience is probably not applicable to anyone else in the world, as I am undoubtedly the strangest guitar player wannabe in the history of plucked instruments. First,… Continue reading Pickin’ and Grinnin’

Dawn Marshall is a supermarket cashier and bagger in Upper Darby, PA. She’s so good at her job — particularly the bagging part — that people will drive out of their way, bypassing lower prices in some cases, to let her work her magic on their groceries. From today’s Wall Street Journal: Ms. Marshall knows… Continue reading Grocery baggers can be proud…