Fireworks break
We’re getting ready to head into Otis’ Six Weeks of Crazy that will see me in plane seats and hotel beds as much as I am home. Today, we took the afternoon to take...
Essays from an american mutt
Jim DeMint fears Orwell, thought, compassion
I honestly didn’t know people still actively worked to defeat hate crime legislation. I thought it had become sort of passé, like segregated lunch counters or Native American genocide. Yet, there are still people...
Journalism and the Palmetto State of play
Union County, South Carolina was barely on the map in 1993. There was no easy way to get there by interstate highway. It wasn’t even the place drivers ended up by accident. It was...
In case of emergency
“You do not want to be the last one in here,” he said. A few seconds later, I was in the hallway with all my gear and a few hundred other people. If Mike...
Balloon Boy is your fault
This is your fault. Certainly, there’s a lot of blame to go around, but most of the people who are pointing fingers at the Henne family tonight should turn off their TV and look...
The flour did not prepare me
I was 16 years old and carrying a five-pound bag of flour around the halls of Willard High School. Because the flour was wrapped in a baby blanket and wearing a diaper–and because I...
Continued adventures in health care
The boy we call Dos is now five months old. He recently started eating oatmeal. He can roll front to back and back to front. The way he’s moving, I wouldn’t be surprised if...
Drunk in London
It’s easy to booze it up on the road trips I take. The poker world is full of people who only know two things: poker and partying. As I get older, I have to...
Bye, London
The trip was exhausting. The hours were pretty long and the jet lag lag made it all longer. I’m still barely conscious, but I made it home last night. I might write more about...
The bank
There is no one in the bank but the tellers, the manager, and the disembodied voice of the drive-through customer in the first lane. The customer has neither a dog nor a child, so...
Finished fiction
I don’t like to leave things unfinished. It’s rare of me to start any project and not work tirelessly on it until it’s finished or dead. Earlier this year, I thought it would be...
On failure
Richard Summers could claim scarred black lab tables and an exceedingly bad combover. This was the Summers Experience, and it was not a good one. It was easy to sit in the back of...
Reset
People ask me what I do. They don’t get it. Who is this guy who shaves when he wants, complains of working at 4am, and finds time for a walk in the park at...
Why I’m angry at Mark Sanford
Like the stages of grief associated with the death of a loved one, I’ve gone through several levels of discombobulation with South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. I skipped Disbelief, moved onto Seriously?, and swam...