We bloggers love comments, but most bloggers realize that the people who read their blog are also reading many others as well, and that leaving comments for every post isn’t always possible.
So I’m trying out a new feature just to see how it goes. 

It has been a week of strange weather for parts of the country. Here in Charleston, we’ve gotten a good dousing of rain to the point that walking outside is like walking through swamplands.
For my friends up around Washington, DC, there was a blizzard, and I just heard last night that my old station in Richmond is dealing with …

When a famous person dies, when is the right time to report it? How many sources need to confirm something before it’s considered “safe” to report?
Those questions came to mind today when the first reports that a legendary actress from the world of daytime television had passed away.

Recently, I took my car into one of those oil change shops where one might expect their car’s motor oil to be changed in a “jiffy.”
I’ve been going to this same establishment ever since I moved to Charleston, and every time I walk in, I know exactly what to expect: the big checklist. This is about as …

A while back, I tried a little feature called Ten on Tuesday. Once in a while, because of time constraints, it had to be Ten on Thursday. Hey, no one is perfect.
I’m contemplating bringing it back from time to time, as the Random 10. It could be ten quick links to stories I find interesting or “out …

You may well have heard this story by now, but I wanted to mention it for those who haven’t because it really is amazing.
It’s about a retired schoolteacher who had dreamed of achieving a bachelor’s degree in education. Back in her day, that college degree wasn’t required for schoolteachers, but she still had it as a goal.
So far, I …

For any of us who’ve ever dreamed of picking just the right numbers to win a lottery, this story might give you pause.
Four years ago, a Florida man won $17 million as a lump sum payment. Nine months ago, he vanished without a trace.

A battle began brewing shortly after the U.S. Postal Service announced the new stamps it was planning for 2010. One of the stamps features Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which seems to have no desire to offer the rest of us freedom from their view of religion, is organizing a boycott and letter-writing campaign against the …

Just after New Year’s Day, I added a question to the Patrick’s Place Poll focusing on the controversy of how to refer to the current year.
Some people insist it should be “two-thousand-ten.” A few insist it should be “two-thousand and ten,” which is absolutely incorrect because in mathematics, the “and” indicates a decimal position.
But according to the poll, the majority …

A group of Civil War re-enactors, decked out in their Confederate13th U.S. Regular Infantry uniforms, was turned away at the last minute from presenting the American flag just minutes before the USC/Kentucy basketball game earlier this week.
The group had made arrangements to present the U.S. flag back in December, but that right before they were scheduled to walk out into …

Nope, this post has nothing to do with the wise old country doctor on the U.S.S. Enterprise.
It’s a story about a man you may never have heard of, but who inspired a very common phrase.

How often do you have the most common of dreams? For me, the most recurring is the sensation of falling, and, at least so far, I always manage to wake up with a start right before I’d otherwise go “splat.” There’s an old wives’ tale that suggests if one actually dies in the dream, he’ll die in real life. …

Man’s quest to be star of a reality television show has gone entirely too far.
In Pennsylvania, a man was arrested and jailed after calling a local television station to invite them along to cover him robbing a bank.
I am not making this up.

My home state of South Carolina is known as the Palmetto State. But besides nicknames, states have a long list of things they claim as their own, from trees to flowers to drinks to dog breeds.
These little details are the subject of this week’s edition.

CBS, already under fire from the left for accepting an “advocacy” ad from the conservative group Focus on the Family, has now rejected an ad for a gay dating site.
People are already complaining about “double standards” and discrimination against gay people.  But they’re missing a few critical points.

On Monday morning, I had a physical. One of the first things they did was to take my blood pressure. It turned out to be 110/70, and I remarked, only half joking, that for a lazy, fat guy, I’d happily take that reading. I realize that it’s past time for me to stop being lazy, start being …

You’ve probably heard by now that a commercial scheduled to air during CBS’s coverage of the Super Bowl is coming under fire. In that ad, paid for by Focus on the Family, Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow appears with his mother in a “pro-life” message.
When Tebow’s mother was pregnant with her now-famous son, she developed a life-threatening infection and doctors …

The other day, I mentioned the asinine comments made by my state’s lieutenant governor, remarks that compared providing free and reduced lunches to underprivileged children to feeding stray animals.
The remarks made by Andre Bauer, predictably, have caused a political firestorm here in South Carolina, where our current governor’s affair with a woman in Argentina should have been more than enough …