There was a time when it must have been incredibly difficult to understand anything you read because there was absolutely no punctuation in existence and nobody used capital letters either so that all the words just followed one after the other and the only way you could understand them was to put in the effort to try and figure out just what the writer was trying to say so you could make some sense out of that long string of letters in front of you. See what I mean? Without punctuation, writing is…well…pointless. That’s right; punctuation is a fairly new invention. Well, that’s...

As you all know, I love language. That’s why I belong to the Grammar Police. And loving language as I do, I love…well words. And, as sick as it sounds, I spend some time pouring over dictionaries just to look at the origin of words. No, I’m not insane. And yes, I DO have a life. It just so happens to be a life that includes looking at the origins of words, okay? So, anyway, the origin of most words makes perfect sense. Take for example, the charming little word “redundant”. We all know what it means. It means to repeat yourself. This is from your Department of Redundancy...

The last time we went to Ireland, we spent a day taking a bus-tour of the Wicklow Mountains (such as they are. North Americans have to laugh a little at what the Irish call “mountains”.). We went through the village of Avoca where the BBC series, Ballykissangel was filmed, and then to the ancient monastic village established by Saint Kevin back in 540 CE called Glendaloch. The Village gets its name from the twin lakes less than a mile or so down the road from the village. Glendaloch is Gaelic for “two lakes”. The buildings there are simple, stone buildings, built to withstand the...

It hadn’t been an exceptionally long war. We had only been involved a little over a year. Since April of 1917, our forces had been fighting in the trenches in France, and now on November 11, 1918, the guns stopped and the killing was over. Still, in that short amount of time, we lost nearly 117,000 brave Americans. They told us it was the war to end all wars and the country was mighty happy to see it end. Our American sons had fought to make the world safe for democracy. But, as in most wars, democracy had nothing to do with it. It seems to be a peculiar disease among mortal humankind...

My wife and I went to a wedding on Saturday. The daughter of one of our best friends got married. We’ve known the bride ever since she was a baby. I can remember her when her mother held her in her arms. We have watcher her grow from a babe to a beautiful young…well…babe. And now, we watched her make the most important commitment of her life. One of our other best friends, an Irish Priest, came all the way from Ireland to perform the ceremony. It was just beautiful. But all this folksy crap has nothing to do with anything except that we went to a wedding. Whenever I go to a...

I once had a friend in high school and we were very close. We signed each other’s yearbooks “friends 4 ever!” We were both in music classes together. He was highly skilled at playing the piano. He had been playing since he was four years old. He could also play the organ quite well, and that’s a difficult instrument to play. He lived with his dad very close to the high school. His father was a tax accountant. Although, I was never invited to his house. I was too much of a hippy, and he didn’t think his dad would approve of me. He was also very religious. He went to church...

I was thinking about how much time I spend watching television the other night. And I thought how weird the extra-terrestrials would think it that our race of somewhat sentient beings sits in front of a box that makes pictures hour after hour. And then I thought to myself, “Myself,” I thought, “I guess we just like stories.” We like to watch stories. We like to hear stories. We like to tell stories. As soon as we get together with our friends and loved ones, we start telling stories. Anyone who has been married or even part of a family knows that you will hear the same stories over and...

One of the things about what happens in the typical public school just bugs the hell out of me. You see, we have the best office staff you could possibly imagine. Without them, the school simply could not function. They type all the letters going home. They fill the supply orders. They translate things that need translating. They take care of sick kids who end up in the office when the nurse isn’t there. They keep an eye on the kids who are in the office for disciplinary reasons until the principal can see them. They field telephone calls from parents. They are simply the best. And yet,...

I think there is a reason why most churches are filled with old people. I don’t think it’s because old people are getting closer to death and are afraid of the great unknown. And I don’t think it’s because “the church” (whatever church or religion) has nothing to say to young people. I think it’s just because most young people are busy building their lives. They are going to school, getting jobs, finding true love–or at least a reasonable facsimile, having children, buying houses, cars, dogs, cats, lawnmowers and kitchen cabinets. When you’re driving the car, sometimes...

As I sit here this morning writing this, I am in pain.  My back has gone into spasm again.  It does that from time to time.  It’s a drag having a bad back.  Anybody can tell you that.  So when I get up to go into the kitchen to get a soda or something, I’ll be walking like Groucho Marx ( I realize this reference is lost on younger folks—go watch A Night at the Opera—it’s really funny).  Oh well.  It happens.  It will get better, please God. There have been plenty of times in my life when I’ve been in trouble, broke, in danger, scared, sick, worried, and I’ve prayed, prayed...