I Finally Understand

I have to admit that for years I could not understand how a close friend I had known for some time could get a divorce. After I myself got married, it became even harder to imagine him getting divorced, because I cannot imagine ever divorcing my own wife. But I finally figured it out. In…

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The Smell of Success

  Sometimes when I tell people that I am a vegetarian, they ask me how I can resist the lure of meat, particularly the smell of meat. I can’t give them any kind of easy answer, because the question makes some important assumptions about me that are untrue. For example… I don’t, as a rule,…

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Her Eyes Again Bright

Abby was well enough to attend the annual Salvation Army Silver Tea with me Friday. The fund raiser was hosted this year by our long-time friends Kassie and Somerlyn Cothran, who have a new baby named Kaydence. Years ago Somerlyn worked at my newspaper, and we have been friends ever since. It’s always a pleasure…

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Holiday Season

I don’t know whose idea it was originally, but for the past few years there have been bulbs on the Christmas tree in the reception area of our office with our names on them. That tree is up now, so I guess that means it’s the “holiday” season. I’m a little cynical about this holiday,…

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Trekker v Trekkie v Ubernurd

Okay, some important points: Kirk got all the space booty, despite stunt doubles who didn’t look much like him. Star Trek was stuck in a weird “everything-has-to-be-right-side-up” thing that Star Wars seemed to defy Party tonight at Gene Roddenberry’s ghost’s house! My all-time favorite episode of any sci-fi show ever was the Star Trek in…

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Retarded Sheep Run the World

On another tab in this same web browser, I am reading a Thom Hogan article about how the 12-mega-pixel Nikon D3 isn’t “high resolution” enough, and you need to stitch at least two of its images together to make it truly “hi-res.” Seven years ago, the highest-resolution digital camera on the market was the Kodak…

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Toe Socks and Watermelon

Two things I thought were really funny tonight: Abby’s toe socks I found a watermelon I was out in the garden, pulling up some morning glory hay for the goats, when I discovered a large watermelon, obviously a volunteer from more than a year ago when we planted them. I think it’s strangely cool and…

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Beaming with Pride

Today the Chickasaw Nation Health Service “topped out” their new multi-million dollar health facility south of Ada (across the street from where Abby works, Pre-Paid Legal Services.) Before the actual raising of the beam, we were encouraged to sign it, “so that 200 years from now, when they tear this thing down, they’ll wonder who…

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Free Info on Mind Control

“I want a lap organ!” -Kindergarten letter to Santa Does it bother anyone else that “Santa” and “Satan” are so similar? Pork strudel + prescription fat blocker Hair pie cocktail Actual sign at house in Latta, Oklahoma, Winter 2000: “Free info on mind control.” Actual wet cement inscription, Latta, Oklahoma: “I, Harjo.” Actual sign in…

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Game of the Year

The local football scene here has been somewhat lackluster. Over the years, the area football programs shined, especially Ada’s, which boasts 19 state championships, 5 of which I covered. But this year, it’s just been on the slow side. Crowds are smaller and quieter. Teams that once dominated are faltering. One pleasant exception was last…

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An Opinion Machine

The same guy who used to complain all the time about everything (“ah, f**k, man!”) told me on one of our trips, “Rich, man, sometimes you have too many f**king opinions.” That’s probably true, but I don’t know why he thought he could tell me how many opinions I could have, and he probably had…

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Hand Me a Plunger

Also, as most of you who are not hung over know, Barack Obama was elected to be our next POTUS. Yay. Here are some interesting facts about yesterday’s election: Even though Abby and I voted in the same place and less than ten minutes apart, we did not see each other there. Abby would not…

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Buxton: Still an Idiot

For the third time in less than a week, Buxton the Goat has gotten his head stuck in the fence. Presumably this is because his horns have grown too long and he doesn’t understand that his head doesn’t fit any more. Since he fights if you touch his horns, the only realistic way to free…

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Flags and Candy

This morning editor Talina asked me if I had a picture of “Candy.” I assumed she wanted a picture of the radio DJ formerly known as Candy Matthews (who now just goes by her first name.) I was wrong; she wanted me to shoot a picture of a bowl of candy for the story to…

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