Columnists

It’s so easy to get bored in our confinement of being quarantined if we don’t use our time wisely and do something with it that will pay off in the long run. Recently as I sat talking to my daughter on the phone, did I realize I got where I have in life because I followed each passion to the fullest, developing three avenues to keep me busy from day to day. Read more

Remember faces? We used to be able to see people’s noses, mouths, chins and — sometimes — glorious mustaches. In order to help stop the spread of COVID-19, we wear face coverings in everyday places including grocery stores, schools and post offices. All we can see of each other’s faces is our eyes. That’s where Tyra Banks comes in. Read more

Terry Barber orders a laptop computer from Sam’s Club. It never shows up. Two months later, her refund is also missing. What’s the problem? Read more

After a year of the stuff, it’s getting harder to generate much excitement for virtual events. We’ve all done those. Repeatedly. Read more

President Joe Biden proposed multiple “free college” measures while on the campaign trail. Do any of them have a real shot? Some experts think so. Read more

I’m guilty of it and most likely, so are you. As a matter of fact, very few of us don’t use idioms. “And what are they?” one may ask. “An idiom is a commonly used expression whose meaning does not relate to the literal meaning of its words.” Formally defined, “An idiom is a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.” Read more

Long, long ago in a time before masks, people gathered joyfully at a large but somewhat rude shed-pavilion at the end of a rough, single-lane dirt road. Coils of white steam rose vigorously from the galvanized vent pipes atop the roof. Read more

We are living in times like no other. Never in the past, as long as I have been alive, have I had to stay locked up in my house for safety’s sake so as to not catch various strains of the coronavirus (COVID-19). And the hard thing is, since my wife passed, I have no one to cook for. Of course, when she was alive, the only time she allowed me to make her a full dinner is when I was courting her. We had spaghetti and meatballs by candlelight. Doesn’t that sound romantic? Read more

To state that Gertrude Pridgett was a trailblazing artist is more than a bit of an understatement. Better known as Ma Rainey, Pridgett has been called the “Mother of the Blues;” she was among the first generation of blues singers to record and a bridge between live-performance vaudeville and the record industry. Read more

Since I’ve been confined in my quarters, thanks to COVID, I have to admit, I’ve been watching way too much more television than I should be. Oh yes, I’ve been reminded to read some of the many books that have been piling up on my bookshelves. But if it were only that easy. It’s not that I don’t want to. My problem is when I attempt to give it a try, I find myself falling asleep not once but time after time. Read more

Groundhog Day dawned a sheer gray, woven evenly from one side of the Conemaugh Valley to the other. The view out my office window was almost a study in halftones. Read more

It didn’t take long after getting into the writing business for me to discover that everyone has a story to tell. At first, it was about others as I was assigned to write about people who found themselves in negative situations, such as accidents, house fires, or even illnesses, to those who became famous because of what they accomplished in life. The bottom line became this — everyone had a story to tell. Read more

The chain sporting-goods retailer in my community typically has dozens of kayaks in various colors and configurations propped up along a long side wall or piled just in front of it. For months, though, during the spring and summer of 2020, there wasn’t a single boat there. Read more

I received two emails recently both showing pictures of individuals next to snowmen. The photos were titled, “Charlie and me.” I can only surmise that the individuals that were depicted were people standing next to snowmen, and the white-flaked structures were nicknamed “Charlie,” one of the many nicknames given to represent our winter-friend, constructed in various ways using sticks, carrots, and wearing apparel. Read more

When Sherrie Segall orders a “walnut” platform storage bed from Groupon, she assumes it’s made of wood. It’s actually made of particleboard. Can she get her money back? Read more

Inauguration Day 2021 made half of the United States very happy and the other half very depressed. Such wide differences in perspectives and emotions should concern us all. Read more

Back in the early ’70s, there was one thing on the minds of my former wife and I. Courting and dating were priority. The rest of life centered around that. We were both trying to make ourselves look the best that we could be in the eyes of each other. One could say it was fantasy at best. We were living in a dream, not knowing from day to day what was around the corner. Read more