It used to be when a person celebrated their 100th birthday their write-up often included the earth-changing happenings in their lifetime. Comments were meant to have us conclude we who are left will never see changes like those in our lifetime. The invention and proliferation of cars, jet airplanes, World Wars, mechanical farm equipment, etc. […]
My column on Ray Stevens Jan. 18 prompted Robert Q. Orick to write the following. * * * Dear Jim, Thank you for your thoughtful & hilarious article about Ray Stevens. My brother and I have been big fans of him for years. We caught his stage show last September at his Ray Stevens Theatre. […]
Put ‘full transparency? down on your list with ‘going forward,? ‘global,? ‘fact of the matter is,? basically and other oft-used and often questionable words heard too often in interviews. All too often a politician, in trying to answer a question will say, ‘Fact of the matter is? when it isn’t really a fact, but an […]
I am not a slow thinker! I am not a slow thinker! I am not a slow thinker! Just because I didn’t secure Shayna in the car, and she’s gotten loose three times before I made tying her in a habit, does not make me a slow thinker. Stupid, maybe, but not slow. Not that […]
For a recent evening meal I grilled two steaks, one for that dinner and one to slice up for breakfast. The trouble with that scenario is Shayna sits by the grill looking, sniffing and trying to tell me if I give her just one taste, she will forgive all my meanness. Not getting a bite […]
There are 400,000 snowmobiles in the entire state of Michigan, so I realize I’m writing to few riders, but hopefully others will hang on for a moment. We’ve tried to make the third weekend of January our snowmobile outing for the year. Such has been our routine for over 20 years, with participants varying from […]
This quote is from P. J. O’Rourke, a conservative with a sense of humor: I like to do my principal research in bars, where people are more likely to tell the truth or, at least, lie less convincingly than they do in briefings and books. Now to my point this week. April 9 the metro […]
I asked for, and got, a new electric razor for Christmas. It’s a Braun. It came with its own cleaning stand and a readout screen that tells you when it’s dirty. Ain’t that nice? It, along with every other product these days, came in three languages: English, French and Espanol. What I really found interesting […]
I wear long, black socks most of the time, but especially in winter. They should be easy to keep track of, but from time to time I lose one in the wash, much like every other person who does laundry. As I searched for a lost one recently, I remembered hearing Ray Stevens? singing, ‘Where […]
Jim’s Jotting’s will return next week!