Columnists

When you’re frequently bombarded with ads for credit cards at big banks, it’s easy to overlook credit cards at a local credit union. These not-for-profit organizations typically require membership based on location or affiliation with an employer, a family member or an organization. Major credit card issuers generally don’t have these requirements. Read more

Everyone can think of two words that pop up in conversations regularly. Sometimes they are followed by excuses and other times they are used in sentences and pass as fast as the sentence was spoken. Read more

I’m a proud “word nerd.” I love words; I collect them like baseball cards. I like weird words, wonky words, witty words and even a handful of Welsh words (fun fact: the word for “carrot” in Welsh is “moron”). As a person prone to collecting things, I hoard words like a doomsday prepper stashes toilet paper. Is it an illness? Probably. But it’s cheaper than golf. Read more

It would be interesting to learn if people who are hesitant or unwilling to get the COVID-19 vaccination would feel the same way about receiving a vaccine that protects them from tick bites. Read more

Few economists predict we’ll return to the double-digit price increases of the late 1970s and early 1980s . But knowing some of the ways consumers coped back then — and how things are different now — can help you formulate a plan to deal with rising prices. Read more

July 3 couldn’t have come soon enough if you asked me. Here I’ve been cooped up in my house as per COVID-19 instructions. The chance to get out and mingle with others was most welcome. Read more

Skeptical of the four-year college degree? It’s still your best bet to make money. Read more

Beelzebub. Mammon. Legion. These are demon names. Today we’re talking about demonyms, which are different from demon names. The devil is in the details, I suppose. Read more

This column draws together my interests in history, drama, preservation and the ways nonprofit organizations can help their communities. Read more

The trove of IRS records recently uncovered by ProPublica has confirmed what many have always suspected: Billionaires often enjoy a substantially lower tax rate than the average American. Read more

I was going through my dictionary recently when I came upon an ‘unusual find’. It centers around the prefix “un”, and its usage combined with various words. Read more

Hey, internet: Remember millennials? Many of us have graduated from our lattes and leisurely brunches to become parents with jobs, car loans and perhaps even a mortgage. Read more

Kids love to tell you precisely how old they are. Adults, on the other hand, treat age like a tightly guarded state secret. With kids, the “half” in their age makes all the difference. My son isn’t merely “seven”; he’s “seven-and-a-half.” You’d better get the “half” in there, or he’ll take it as an insult. I have half a mind to divulge my age, but I stopped counting a long time ago. Read more

A pandemic-fueled boom in crowdfunding has small businesses flocking to capital-raising platforms that experts say could help many companies get back to normal — as long as small-business owners are able to launch effective campaigns. Read more

As a bicycling enthusiast, I’ve had the opportunity to ride in communities across the country, including Venice, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Flagstaff, Arizona, and Riverside, California – all of which have designated bicycle lanes. Read more

There aren’t that many people in the church I attend who’ve telephoned me to inquire as to my well-being. So, the other day I decided to do a “switherroo,” as my mother would say. I reached out to them to see how they were coping with these challenging times. Read more

As the COVID-19 vaccination era makes it safer to travel, many people who stayed home during pandemic shutdowns are vacationing again. Airport checkpoint numbers have increased about 20% from January through mid-June, 2021, compared with the same time frame in 2020, according to Transportation Security Administration data. Read more

The Oxford English Dictionary is at it again, welcoming a fresh batch of words into its hallowed halls. In all, 700 words and meanings (senses) got added to the OED in June. Here are some of the highlights. Read more

Road trip! Read more

I don’t get it. When somebody tells me “No,” that one word that is very emphatic. “No fishing!” What’s hard to understand about them? “No hunting on private property” is another example. And third, “No swearing in church!” What’s hard to comprehend about these three words? Yet, people think they have the right to do anything they want and heck with the postings whether they be laws, ordinances, or signs stapled to trees by private citizens. Read more

Are you constantly on your phone? Do you bury your face in your Facebook feed? Do you find yourself all atwitter for Twitter? Do you constantly talk about TikTok? Personally, I’m tempted to spend every instant on Instagram. The studies and statistics I found are all over the place, but the average smartphone user spends over two hours per day using social media. Read more

Sipping a beer while sitting under a tent listening to live music. Hearing a traditional craftsperson explaining how to make a wooden bucket. Eating pigs and pierogi. Browsing the craft booths. Learning history from an 18th-century re-enactor. Read more

I find it somewhat ironic that the pandemic swayed me into committing habits that I wouldn’t haven’t done otherwise. Look at me now. What am I doing? It doesn’t take much to conclude that if I didn’t do a lot of research for stories on this machine (not always a good thing because websites can’t always be trusted) I’d be stretched out in front of the tube watching more television than I care to admit. Read more

It’s no secret people under a certain age (I’m going to put it as high as 50) throw around the word “like” as if they lived in mid-1980’s Beverly Hills. “Like” gets used as much as the word “the,” functioning as the filler word of many non-Californians’ daily lingo. Read more

All persons held as slaves … shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. Read more

We’re all familiar with the saying stating, “Never say never.” Even though most of us may have repeated those three words, I betcha you don’t know who coined it? I sure didn’t. It was Charlie Dickens, or maybe I should just stick with his formal name, Charles. It was back in 1837 when he noted it in Pickwick Papers. There, we both learned something. Read more

My wife and I are in a stage of parenting where we can’t get away with spelling words aloud around the kids anymore. Our son is a great reader and can sniff out a secret-parent-spelling code faster than you can spell i-c-e c-r-e-a-m. Read more

When Insight Vacations cancels Lisa Kovens-Harris’s National Park tour, she asks for a refund. Why does the company only offer a credit? Read more

When Aaron Lasenyik cancels his Sears appliance layaway order, the company stalls on a refund. How can he get his money back? Read more

A sunny, puffy sky arched over the mother and daughter solemnly walking the red, white and blue floral wreath to the circle of veterans’ markers in the middle of Sandyvale Memorial Gardens & Conservancy. Read more

Hurt. It is something we’ve had to deal with at one time or another in our lives. Sometimes, it’s because a loved one left us for another. Other times, we may have been called a derogatory name, and third, someone physically destroyed something special that one has grown to love. I bet there isn’t one person whose read my columns who hasn’t experienced one of the above. Read more

Wherefore upon we find ourselves on the noble precipice of the dawning of a newly-formed sentence and, seeing as how I still have your undivided attention even though I find myself in recognition of the fact that I’m competing with the likes of social media and videos involving funny cats, I thank you for your examination of my grandiloquent commentary. In other words, it’s time to talk about grandiloquence. Read more

Help! eBay mistakenly sent my package to Florida Read more

The motion-activated security light came on just outside the sunroom where I was sitting and reading. Glancing through the glass, I saw a raccoon, prowling around the base of my parents’ bird feeder. Read more

I’ve always been fascinated with the American language. It is true; I haven’t always used Webster’s vocabulary correctly. Nevertheless, I seem to get my points across concerning the numerous stories I’ve written. Read more

I’ve been getting into gardening lately. Specifically, I’m cultivating a native perennial garden designed to support monarchs and other crucial pollinators. If I see you and you ask me what I’ve been up to lately, I’ll talk about the latest seedling that just popped up in the garden. Unless you actually want to chat with me about native perennial pollinator gardening, don’t go down this conversational road with me. Read more

The profound disruptions of the pandemic still have me shaking my head as we slowly emerge from it. Even outdoor events that would’ve scattered people across miles of trails and rivers were affected. Read more

When you think of it, we all can learn something if we pay attention and listen. Granted, it may not be favorable, but even so, learning is waiting to gain something by ear or eye. Read more

The English language is nutty. It can be understood through tough, thorough thought, though. I wanted to find a way to add the word “trough” to the last sentence, but I feared being thrown out throughout the touted trout throat. See? I knew it wouldn’t work. Read more

Did you know there are approximately 100 different idioms, if not more, using body parts? Just the other day I started humming “Heart of My Heart, I Love That Melody,” an oldie but goodie sung by The Four Aces. True, many of you may not be old enough to remember that song, but it surely stands out in my mind. Read more

At some point, you learned the word “antidisestablishmentarianism.” You may not know what it means, but at least you know it. Never mind that it has to do with people who wanted to maintain the Anglican Church’s status as the official Church of England in the 1800s — it has 12 syllables! That’s a word worth knowing! Read more

May is my favorite month. It’s the heart of spring, a time when we can watch growth, hear vitality. Read more

We hear about it daily on the news. Every television station carries the same stories so much that we’ve almost grown numb to the subjects. But how many of you can actually say you were held at gunpoint while sitting in your car? Read more

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. While we enjoyed having a quirky podcast, Kristen and I had to do all the scheduling, producing and editing work ourselves. Read more

Now overgrown, the ballfield brought back memories of the times my son had played baseball and flag football there. All that remained of the backstop was a jumbled pile of pipe and chain link, soon to be removed for the construction of an entertainment stage. Read more

Something just occurred to me recently. Upon hearing the phrase, “Hey Pee Vee, act your age.” I was not acting but being myself. So many times, in the course of events of our lives, we react to statements made, ways we are treated or occurrences that are about to happen. I really believe that if we are brought up a certain way, our overall response will be according to the patterns set before us by our parents. Read more

Have you ever heard or uttered a sentence and then thought, “I’ll bet no one’s ever said that before”? For instance, yesterday I was playing with my daughter, Maeve, who is three-and-a-half. She has some stretchy, colorful toys called Monkey Noodles. Maeve has a vivid imagination, but I’ll spare the details of the game she invented only to say the game ended with me exclaiming, “We don’t put Monkey Noodles in our mouths after we bake them in our tummy ovens!” I doubt the same words had ever been put together in the same order in the same sentence before, and I doubt they’ll ever need to be uttered again. Read more

Diane Luedtke’s Groupon for TSA PreCheck doesn’t work. Can she persuade the company to refund it? Read more

While it was the sky — not the water — that was blue, the reflection was warm and inviting. Sunshine made the air feel warmer than its actual temperature in the low-60s. Read more

While talking to a gent on the telephone, he happened to bring up what he considered the reason for the high divorce rate. Plainly put, he pointed out, “The reason June Eman decided to split up with her husband was due to the fact that she fell out of love with Jim.” He went on to state that he felt that they were married quite a long time anyway — eight years. Read more