Proms sure have gotten expensive these days. According to the San Jose Mercury News, high school kids spend nearly $4 billion annually for dresses, accessories, flowers, beauty products, limos and other prom-related items. The average couple spends upward of $1,000 for the one-time event. That got me thinking about my own prom in 1980. I […]
Ring. Ring. “Hello, this is Tom.” “We know who you are, Tom. In the digital age, you will be shocked by what we know about you.” “Who is this? The National Security Agency? I thought President Obama issued orders to rein you in!” “That’s a good one, Tom. Obama told the NSA to stop storing […]
There’s a reason why only 8 percent of New Year’s resolutions are kept: Too many of us make resolutions that lack resolve. “Resolve” is a powerful world. According to one dictionary, it means “to solve a problem, or to find a satisfactory way of dealing with a disagreement.” Bill Gates elaborated on the concept in […]
“The wife and I came up with so many Halloween costume ideas this year to satirize Washington politicians, but we aren’t sure which to choose.” “You speak of a relatively recent trend in which adults pick or create Halloween costumes that mock or satirize current events and popular culture. Robert Thompson, a pop-culture expert and […]
Like millions of Americans, I’ve become a “Duck Dynasty” fan. “Duck Dynasty,” as you surely are aware, is an A&E reality show that presents the Robertson clan, the long-bearded owners and operators of Duck Commander in West Monroe, La. Duck Commander hand-makes duck calls. The story is a rags-to-riches one. Phil Robertson, the patriarch of […]
I became upset when I got word. Jeep, reports Automotive News, is shifting its focus away from hearty off-road 4X4’s to, mostly, dinky little two-wheel-drive cars that ride smoothly on paved roads — the kind of cars Europeans like to drive. This is what happens when an iconic American brand is sold to a European […]
A Pencil’s Point Now is a good time to revisit the 1958 essay in which Leonard Read examined how a pencil is made — and how it is miraculous that a pencil is made at all. The standard pencil begins when a cedar is cut down. Ropes and gear tug it onto the bed of […]
I drove through my old neighborhood last week. It is like many suburban neighborhoods that sprouted up in the 1960s. Many of the people who moved there grew up in the city. All of them wanted big yards in which their kids could play. Many wanted to be near St. Germaine Catholic Church and its […]
I hate to say it, but ObamaCare has been good for me. Now, I know our economy is still struggling — Gallup says the unemployment rate just jumped to nearly 9 percent — and I know ObamaCare uncertainty is making many employers wary of hiring. But I also know that new opportunities exist for people […]
I would like to think that it all started with the “Y” cord, but I know that is not so. Maybe it would be more accurate to state that perhaps it started with the words, “Why not?” We were presenting a marriage preparation class to thirty-five couples the other day, and wanting to give them […]
The name is Monday. Agent Monday. I have an important job to do. Back in 2011 President Obama issued an executive order to root out security violators within the federal government — people like Edward Snowden, our most recent leaker of government secrets. The president ordered federal employees to report suspicious activities among their co-workers […]
Even on the hottest nights of the summer, my father knew how to make our house ice cold. We lived in a modest two-story home typical of the ’60s and ’70s — red brick on the bottom, white aluminum siding on the top. There were four bedrooms upstairs and a master bedroom downstairs (my parent’s […]
I long for the sounds of summer I knew as a kid. In the ’60s and ’70s, you see, most of our neighbors kept their windows open day and night, allowing the outside sounds to come in and the inside sounds to go out. I woke every morning to the birds chirping outside my window […]
meandfolly.blogspot.com Like Us On Facebook FollowMeOnTwitter
“Let’s go, he can’t hit, he can’t hit.” “Stop the game! How dare you suggest that the batter, an innocent 12-year-old child who only wants to make contact with the ball, cannot hit! Have you considered how your ridicule will harm his self-esteem? As the umpire of this game, I forbid you to utter such […]
meandfolly.blogspot.com Like Us On Facebook FollowMeOnTwitter
meandfolly.blogspot.com Like Us On Facebook FollowMeOnTwitter
What to get for the contemporary male who has everything? The Man Bag. The Man Bag is a high-style satchel — a purse, though its creators hate when you call it that. It’s designed to hold the modern man’s wallet, keys, sunglasses, iPod, cell phone, body spray, hair goop, diary and whatever other junk he […]
meandfolly.blogspot.com Like Us On Facebook FollowMeOnTwitter meandfolly.blogspot.com Like Us On Facebook FollowMeOnTwitter
Students, faculty, family members and friends, it is my great honor to deliver your commencement speech today. It is my opinion that our society must take every opportunity to praise our young people for their hard work and accomplishment, and that is why ceremonies such as this are so important to our country’s future. It […]
