By MONTE DUTTON A comic-book football game erupts into supernatural chaos as a goat, owl, and melting players join the action. Click here. Perhaps one reason writers struggle is that truth is getting progressively stranger than fiction. Journalism is not really about telling the truth. It’s about getting as close to the truth as possible …
Tag: writing
Rosman, just up the road
By MONTE DUTTON Acapulco Mexican Restaurant welcomes diners beneath a colorful sunset in the Blue Ridge Mountains. (This is a bit exaggerated. Then again, it's a cartoon.) Click here. I awakened recently thinking about running backs. I certainly never was one. Neither was my brother, though he would have been better suited. Football has many …
The sameness of the news
By MONTE DUTTON Two identical news anchors deliver unchanging breaking news. Click here. I’m getting old. I am old. It follows that I am set in my ways. The evening news. I like to watch it, but it’s getting harder. The anchors could be AI-generated. They’re not. There apparently is a Tom Llamas. Wikipedia says …
A quick trip back
By MONTE DUTTON A quiet small town street glows warmly in the early morning light. Click here. I breezed through Laurens County on Thursday. It was an economical trip. I went to the post office, discovering to my surprise that the box wasn’t crammed. A big manila envelope was inside, but it was to an …
Where AI comes in handy
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. I use Artificial Intelligence. Often I illustrate these blogs with images created by WordPress as part of the deal for providing this site. Also, it’s easier to ask AI the derivation of “lead-pipe cinch.” The standard Internet search now offers lead pipes I can purchase in the first 20 items. …
The best kind of road to ruin
By MONTE DUTTON Mike Hembree (left) and Larry Woody at the Franklin battlefield (Monte Dutton photos). I hope I’m going to get a bit more profound when I take stock of my three-day trip to Nashville, Tenn., which I cheerfully refer to as Music City USA, but not Nashvegas, because I like Nashville better. I …
Just enough knowledge to be dangerous
A young woman -- apparently one with three arms --- angrily reacts to her computer crashing and losing internet connection. Click here. Superficial knowledge. That’s what we got from technology. I am neither unaffected nor blameless. I write mostly about sports for an increasingly modest living. I don’t know as much about sports since I …
The verbers are taking over
By MONTE DUTTON This vibrant comic-style illustration creatively visualizes the transformation of common nouns into active verbs. Click here. Verbers are taking over. It’s been going on for years. What is a verber? It’s a person who turns everything into a verb. They’re maniacal. I’m not writing a story. I’m laptopping. Several times a week, …
Anatomy of an upset
By MONTE DUTTON Alex Wilkins (Furman photo) Click here. Furman must go into Friday night’s game against Connecticut with illogical expectations. A cynic would call it delusions of grandeur. The Paladins must believe they are going to win. Period. There’s no other way. When Furman hits the Xfinity Mobile Arena floor, every corner of the …
Short-term hoops fatigue
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. “Six Days on the Road (and I’m A-Gonna Make It Home Tonight)” was written by Earl Green and Carl Montgomery. It’s my favorite trucker song. I don’t have a lot. A man who drives pickups doesn’t count as a trucker. I was, however, on the road for six days. I …
Nightrider's Lament 