Filling the pauses with... um.. you know... embolalia

A few years ago my friend Kristen and I created a podcast called “The Exotic Fruit Review.” In it, we sampled exotic fruits, discussed them and interviewed people who were leading extraordinary lives.

Pride and pain

“Skiing accident?” This was the first thought of Dublin Goodfellow Michael Haley when he saw me hop out of my car with a crutch for a meeting at City Hall last week. I responded that I wished it was something that glamorous or exciting. The truth is my two weeks of pain started by sleeping wrong.

Letter to the editor

To the Editor: You may have thought that politicians are insane when you heard about the proposal to defend the police. If so, a reason exists why you thought so.

Texas can act now to reduce number of kids sleeping in offices

The number of children in the state’s foster care who had to sleep in state office has been on the increase, up to 186 in February.

Putting the ‘fun’ in phonetics

I took my son Miles to get his hair cut this past weekend. Miles’ barber has recently moved into a new salon down the road. The new spot is inside a larger salon called Phenix Salon Suites, a national chain of salons.

I Was a Thirty-Something Vanna

I learned several things over the weekend as I attended the joint North & East Texas Press Association/West Texas Press Association conventions: how valuable it is to share information with peers, how good it feels to do normal things and that I make a pretty good ‘Vanna.

Letter to the editor

Dear Editor, We would like to thank the great people of Dublin for being there for our family during the recent loss of John Mark Underwood. Losing John Mark was sudden and very difficult for us all but having our Dublin family was very comforting.

Where Are They Now?

John Tate spent 32 years traveling around Texas and New Mexico working as a soil conservationist and agronomist. Now, he’s more than 12 years into his “retirement,” but stays as busy as ever managing ranches and inspecting cattle.

A cutesy-wootsy look at pet names and baby talk

Remember that episode of “Seinfeld” where Jerry and Sheila (Jerry’s girlfriend for one episode) call each other “schmoopie”? This schmaltzy, saccharine show of cutesy nicknaming made the rest of the gang sick. Most people remember this episode for the “Soup Nazi” yelling “No soup for you!

How, o how, to stop the squirrels?

I was standing in my parents’ living room talking to Mom and Dad about weekend plans. As I was answering a question, I saw Dad glance out the window and then without a word, he rushed over to the front door and went out.