Patrick

We each have our own pet peeves when it comes to grammar. One of my biggest goes back to 1986. I was sent to USC to attend a summer journalism workshop that would benefit me as I worked on my...

Here we are with another edition of "The Saturday Six." But before we get to the questions, I wanted to welcome a few folks who played for the first time last week: Dave, Lisa, Shann, Ksquester, Angi, and Childebran1968. And...

I recently subscribed to Time magazine, news that should make AOL's corporate parent happy. Besides the fact that I'm trying to make more time to read, I also figured at least one benefit of subscribing to Time would be that...

This entry has to do with two recent events. One of them involves a situation that came to light in the journal community on Friday; the other involves an attack against someone who commented to an unrelated entry here. If...

Andrea made an excellent point in my last piece about rejection, "The 'R' Word." She states, "I don't think I will handle rejection well...I've learned to handle critique well, though. Does that count?!" Indeed it does! Critique deserves its own...

A big word of thanks to those who are still playing the "Saturday Six" despite the fact that the weekly recaps are no more. I'm glad to know you still enjoy the game. But before we get to the questions,...

I distinctly remember where I was on 9/11. On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was awakened by a ringing telephone.

Those of you who visited this journal earlier today will realize that I have done something that I almost never do: I have removed two entries and the associated comments. I hope those who took the time to leave comments...

All writers, no matter how experienced, no matter how talented, will eventually face rejection at some point in their career. Hopefully, they'll get all of the rejection letters out of the way on their first novel until that one publisher...

"It makes you wonder, doesn't it? Just how normal are we? Just who are the people we nod our hellos to as we pass on the street?" — Rod Serling from "The After-Hours" episode of The Twilight Zone. "The whole...

Bill Clinton, shortly before undergoing heart surgery, urged John Kerry to drop the Vietnam theme of his campaign, according to MSNBC. The call came after the release of a new Gallup poll which shows that George W. Bush had a...

Those of you who run businesses should take note: the more of these things I hear while sitting on hold to speak with one of your operators, the more unkind I'm likely to be, no matter how nice the operator...

Much has been made about the recent removal of content from a Dan Wheeler's journal, prompting him to leave the AOL Journal community. I have been doing a bit of research on AOL's Community Standards, the very guidelines that apparently...

If the "Saturday Six" was a person, it would just turn legal this week. But before it goes off on a drinking binge just because it can, there are six more questions we must take account of, so here they...

AOL Journal-land's resident cartoonist, Dan Wheeler, has left the building. Apparently someone found his comic strip, "Bobo Puppyhead," offensive enough to raise a red flag to AOL. His comic strip, if you have never seen it, consisted of dialog and...

I must explain an important rule about the Saturday Six: it is never "too late" to play. I call it the "Saturday Six" not because I expect everyone to drop what they're doing and come here on Saturday...but because that's...