"Why do they [write] for their money? Why do they [work] for short pay? They ain't getting nowhere and they're losing their share. They must have gone crazy back there." — Michael Burton (paraphrased)
Clinton, South Carolina, Sunday, May 19, 2019, 10:40 a.m. Maybe it’s because part of my job these days is taking pictures. Maybe it’s some sort of introspection that comes with age. Age wasn’t particularly prominent in my mind until I reached 60. Thirty, 40, 50 … they were just numbers. Sixty was the most significant …
Continue reading Another Sunday in the Living Room with the Television On
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, May 17, 2019, 10:42 a.m. Realistically, there’s not much else I really want to do. At this point, a bucket list is kind of silly. It would have been worthwhile when I was young. Maybe if I’d decided back then I wanted to go to Venice – or the Knoxville Nationals …
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, May 2, 2019, 8:32 a.m. Every dog has his day. Even the athletes with the most modest of skills – me, for instance, back in the distance when I tried to be one – have the occasional moment of glory. The proudest of my memories involve the accomplishments of teams for …
Continue reading I Don’t Know, but I’ve Heard Say, that Every Little Dog Has His Day
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, April 13, 2019, 2:27 p.m. It has not been uncommon for me to express the belief that the biggest problem facing writers is simple. More and more people write, and less and less people read. It’s sort of a double-edged sword, particularly if one happens to write books. Getting them published …
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, April 6, 2019, 12:34 p.m. When I was in the sixth grade at Clinton Elementary School, U.S. Sen. Ernest Frederick “Fritz” Hollings visited my classroom. From the view of an 11-year-old in a desk chair he couldn’t get his leg in now, Hollings looked as tall and thin as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, …
Clinton, South Carolina, Monday, March 25, 2019, 12:52 p.m. I’ve been reading three books at the same time. One is in hardcover. One is in my Kindle. One is in my phone. The last two could be read in either. For no apparent reason, I read one strictly in one and one strictly in the …
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, March 15, 2019, 12:22 p.m. Oh, wow. We say, “oh, wow,” too much. The last time North Carolina went 3-0 against Duke was 1975-76. Oh, wow. Wait a minute. The Tar Heels and the Blue Devils don’t play in basketball three times every year. This is the first Clemson football team …
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, March 12, 2019, 10:09 a.m. I guess most people actually do have similar experiences. Class reunions. I’ve only been to one of those, the 10th, and I made a spectacle of myself that I don’t regret much because I was much younger, and it was roughly what I was supposed to …
Clinton, South Carolina, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, 12:15 p.m. Treatment is going well. Not rehab for any addiction. Not radiation or chemo or anything like that. No shrink. The wound on my leg is almost healed. Soon I won’t have to surround it in clear plastic every time I take a shower. A man reaches …
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, February 2, 2019, 1:49 p.m. I just checked the TV listings and see that PBR Bull Riding is on from Oklahoma City. Now, PBR stands for Professional Bull Riders, so what the message on TV indicates is that what is on is Professional Bull Riders Bull Riding. What a surprise that …
Continue reading They’re Only Words, and Words Are All I Have …
Nightrider's Lament 