An eponym is a human name that has been turned into a word. There are many examples of eponyms in the English language. A boycott, for example, comes to us via Charles Boycott. Leotard comes from Jules Leotard. One of the great things about English is its great adaptability. It adds, subtracts, and changes word […]
Anti-Science Foolishness and the Face of Conservatism Read More »
I hate the comma. I don’t mean hate like, “I hate blue M&Ms.” I mean hate as in, “I hate choking to death on a brussel sprout.” English teacher and writer that I am, I shouldn’t expend such emotion on a mere punctuation mark. It’s too little of an item to stress about in life.
Comma Chameleon: A Punctuated Relationship Read More »
There’s a gun shop in my town that still has its Christmas message up. “Joy to the world the lord has come.” I’m not an expert on theology, but I’m pretty sure where Jesus would stand on the whole gun rights issue. People criticized Obama for his remarks about people who cling to their guns
Guns, Bibles, and Charlie Hebdo Read More »
Rum and Coke is a good drink, my cocktail of choice. Oh sure, if I could afford it, I’d drink Crown Royal or Glenmorangie. Barring a lottery win, though, it’s a Cuba Libre for me on the rare occasions that I skip the wine at a party or find myself in a bar. It goes
I lost my cell phone recently. Technically, I didn’t really lose it. It was sitting on my son’s coffee table in his house in Ft. Morgan. Only I was locked out and he was in Denver. So the result was the same as if I had lost it. At first, I thought it was just
People in America spend more time worrying about their weight than a high school wrestler. And no wonder. Everywhere we look, we’re bombarded with diets, diet suggestions, exercise equipment, gym memberships, pills, powders, ointments, and headlines decrying the obesity epidemic. Media exhorts us to get our fat butts off of the couch and lose weight.
Fat is Not a Disease Read More »
Some would-be jihadists, who had traveled from the U.S. to Iraq and joined ISIL, are quitting the cause. It turns out the WiFi signal isn’t strong enough in Syria so their IPods quit working. These American teenagers can’t tolerate such torturous living conditions, and they want to come home. It’s a story that makes you
The Reality of Santa Read More »
Scientists recently announced the discovery of a stupid virus called ATCV-1. People infected with the virus score ten per cent worse on mental tasks than they did prior to being infected. This is a serious health issue. Not many people can afford to lose ten percent of their mental abilities. An awful lot of people
The Stupid Virus: There Oughta Be a Telethon Read More »
This is the time of year when I am buried underneath catalogs of all shapes, sizes, and descriptions. It’s an old fashioned thing. Most of you probably went paperless sometime ago. Now you get spam, tweets, likes, bites, burps, and whatever other insidious means of assaulting our senses that marketers come up with. You can
I flipped on the light as I opened the door. He was a young man, mid twenties, and I wondered why he was ringing my doorbell on a Sunday night. Since I didn’t see a tie or stack of Watchtowers, I decided to satisfy my curiosity. Some people open their door to anyone or answer
Prayers, Cribs, and Pine Creek High School Read More »