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Our Evolving Language
Unless you’re an editor, you probably don’t think of our language as a living, breathing organism, but it really is. Words come and go. They fall out of fashion. Slang based on cultural references will make absolutely no sense to anyone 50 years from now. And the rules change over time. People who believe you…
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Carmesha Rogers — Neglected Hero
Recently there was a lot of media coverage about Carmesha Rogers, who is a true hero. When she heard gun shots, dozens of them, in front of her house, did she stay inside where she would be safe? No. She ran into the line of fire to get some neighborhood kids inside. She rescued these…
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On Being Neutral, Like Switzerland
To be honest, I don’t think you really can be neutral. Unless you’re a psychopath or extremely lazy, you are bound to form an opinion on whatever the subject at hand may be. However, as I get older I’ve begun to realize that you really do have to pick your battles. Some things are just…
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Foul Weather Friends
Everyone has heard of Fair Weather Friends—those friends who are more than happy to be in your life when all is well, but when the stuff hits the fan, they’re nowhere to be found. Nothing like a stormy sea to make the scales fall from your eyes regarding that type of person. But I’ve also…
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When Practical Jokes Go Too Far
Every once in a while it’s fun to play a practical joke, or even to be on the receiving end of one. It can mean that you’re well liked. But practical jokes make me nervous because it is so easy to cross the line into cruelty or danger. This is why I have never liked…
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Unwanted Legacies: The Shame that is Nathan B. Forrest High School
Here in Jacksonville, Florida, we have a high school named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a confederate general who led the massacre of African American union soldiers at Fort Pillow and was one of the earliest members of the Ku Klux Klan. That school was named based on the recommendations of the Daughters of the Confederacy,…
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Travel Sounds
Have you ever noticed that a sound or a smell can instantly transport you back to an experience in your past? A certain song always reminds you of your first kiss. The smell of baking bread takes you back to your mother’s kitchen when you were a child. I love it when this happens. Unfortunately,…
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Salting Pigeon’s Tails, and Other Games for Kids
My mother was one smart lady. She had three kids to keep busy and very little money to do it with, so she got creative. We would often pack up a picnic lunch and go to the nearest cemetery. My friends think this is nuts, but I remember these as being very fun times. When…
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Do Republican Women Hate Themselves?
When I was in college I was invited to join the youth division of a service organization called the Rotary Club, and I was seriously considering it. I thought it would look great on resumes and applications, and it would be wonderful to have a positive impact on this world. Then I had a conversation…