Columns - Topics from April, 2012
Memories on the wing
Rarely do I ever go see a movie after I’ve read the book it was based on, especially if I liked the book. I know the movie will leave half of the plot out, or change the plot so much I will hardly recognize it. The first time I saw Gone with the Wind, I was angry. I wanted every single tidbit of the book, every detail. Where were Scarlett’s other two children? And what about her first husband, Charles? Before I ever saw it, I’d read the book about ten times. I could practically recite it. How dare they change it so much? A couple of years ago a friend and I, both Jodi Picoult fans, went to see My Sister’s Keeper. If I had not read the book, I would have been impressed, but I was too busy remembering what actually happened in the book to enjoy what was happening in the movie. It was hardly the same story at all.
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Momma and sheer will
My Mother is the most determined and strong willed person I have ever known; not the smartest, but the most determined and strong willed. I mean that if she tells you to put a round peg into a square hole and you can’t make it fit, she’ll knock you out of the way, grab a hammer and say to the peg, “Bless Patty, peg you’re going in there and I mean now!! Hold that peg still, Boy, and stop whining about your hand or I’ll use this hammer on your hard head! You watch this and learn!!”
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Tales from the Altamaha 2012
The 2012 production by the Lyons Better Hometown Association of the Tales from the Altamaha at the popular Blue Marquee Theater, in Lyons, was another rousing success. Sellout crowds gave remarkable applause to this year’s exciting performance Front Porches, Rocking Chairs and Sweet Tea.
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Trip brings back memories
Last year Appling County 4-H Agent Becky Collins contacted me about writing a short story about my years of experience in Georgia 4-H. The title of the story was “I Am Georgia 4-H”. I really enjoyed writing about my experiences in the organization.
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Trial by media
Seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was unarmed when he was fatally shot on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who claimed self-defense. Unless you’ve lived in a cave with no television since that day, you are very much aware of this case. No matter the angle we choose to examine it from, it’s a multi-faceted tragedy. One young man is dead. Another has been convicted of murder before all the facts are in, not by a jury of his peers, but by the national media, and hordes of people have jumped on the bandwagon to lynch Zimmerman. No one seems interested in the facts. Right now, the whole situation is a farce fanned and aggravated by reporters striving for sensationalism.
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Marriage Chronicles: Part Two
It is hard to believe it, but me and the little woman are rolling up on our twenty-eighth wedding anniversary soon. Have mercy, what a ride it has been to tame this Texas mustang I lassoed all those years ago, but given the opportunity, I would do it again. I was flat broke when we married so I know my wife did not marry me for money, but our marriage has been rocky a few times. These rocky times probably stem from her having second thoughts when the new wore off and she got tired of eating squirrels, venison, rabbits, rattlesnakes, fish, soft shell turtles, locusts and wild honey, and whatever else the land had to offer (I ain’t sure about this. I am just thinking out loud here.). Her head is just as hard as mine and she has her faults but thankfully she also has virtues that outweigh them. I have at least one fault myself, although I am sure my detractors would take issue with this number. Just exactly why she did marry a broke country boy like me is a mystery that I shall leave to the ages, but whatever it was, I am glad of it.
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Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee, is the city that riverboats, B.B. King and Blues Music and Elvis Presley and Rock and Roll Music built.
In addition to ocean cruises, river cruises are a large part of my and B. J.’s travel adventures. However, until the past week, we had never cruised the Mississippi on a genuine Mississippi River paddle wheeler. Memphis would be the place. [Full Story »]
In addition to ocean cruises, river cruises are a large part of my and B. J.’s travel adventures. However, until the past week, we had never cruised the Mississippi on a genuine Mississippi River paddle wheeler. Memphis would be the place. [Full Story »]
The truth about personal injury law
Did you hear the one about the personal injury lawyer that was injured in an accident? He was hurt when the ambulance he was chasing stopped suddenly. This joke is funny, especially when you consider that there are attorneys out there who do in engage in the practice of trolling around hospitals looking for clients that have been injured and I’ll discuss these characters on a later date. However, there are many reputable attorneys who represent clients who have been injured in accidents involving cars, machinery, trips to the grocery store and mishaps at work. Personal injury law is vitally important for several reasons. First, it designs remedies for those who have been injured due to the negligence or intentional acts of another, and a second important function is that personal injury law helps to assign risks and spurs the development of safety measures in all facets of our lives. For example, personal injury lawsuits have led to safer designs of cars, trucks and machinery, exacting standards on the testing of prescription medication, and more stringent regulation of tobacco products.
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Lilies, petunias, and family trees
Even when I stand in my front yard, I can smell the Confederate jasmine blooming above the swing out back, and when I walk outside, the sweet smell of petunias wafts to my nose. I love the deep purple variety and have them in pots on the front and back decks. Their red, white, and pink cousins grow in the yard. Many of them volunteer, and we’re delighted when they do. Right now we have a white one thriving at the end of a row of broccoli in the back garden. We like to think that these petunias are descendants of Larry’s mother’s flowers that she once grew here.
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Marriage Chronicles: Part One
Two weeks before Christmas I was sitting in my den wondering what to get my wife for a gift. She said she did not want anything, but I knew better than to believe her because although I was born in the morning, it wasn’t this morning. I pondered upon this dilemma as I walked to our bedroom. I lay down to read the Scriptures and just as I started to open the Book, I gazed askance at a magazine lying on the floor; Victoria’s Secret.
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A look at the 2012 Legislative Session
By Tommie Williams
The Majority Party spent this legislative session carefully crafting legislation to focus on ideas and concepts that would benefit all Georgians. In January, we unveiled the agenda of initiatives we strived to accomplish for the 2012 session. As the final gavel struck at midnight on March 29th, we were confident that all of these goals had been achieved through hard work and dedication. By combining the traditional concepts of limited government and fiscal responsibility, we also introduced the tax reform package, numerous bills to protect our children and reform education; therefore as members of the Majority Party we were pleased with the accomplishments of the 2012 session. [Full Story »]
The Majority Party spent this legislative session carefully crafting legislation to focus on ideas and concepts that would benefit all Georgians. In January, we unveiled the agenda of initiatives we strived to accomplish for the 2012 session. As the final gavel struck at midnight on March 29th, we were confident that all of these goals had been achieved through hard work and dedication. By combining the traditional concepts of limited government and fiscal responsibility, we also introduced the tax reform package, numerous bills to protect our children and reform education; therefore as members of the Majority Party we were pleased with the accomplishments of the 2012 session. [Full Story »]
We were sixteen going on four
A few years ago, I took our lab to the vet and he told me, “Labs are great dogs but they don’t develop a brain until they’re two years old.”
I’m pretty sure the same principle could be applied to young humans as well, but I don’t know exactly how long it takes teenagers to develop some common sense. A lot more than two years, I’m certain. I work with teens and see some of the foolish things they do without thinking about them, but most of all I remember many of the foolish things I and my cronies did. [Full Story »]
I’m pretty sure the same principle could be applied to young humans as well, but I don’t know exactly how long it takes teenagers to develop some common sense. A lot more than two years, I’m certain. I work with teens and see some of the foolish things they do without thinking about them, but most of all I remember many of the foolish things I and my cronies did. [Full Story »]
Pleasing a woman
Yesterday I decided it was time to get a ‘Honey-Do’ job over with; dig a ditch 80 feet for a new water spigot so my beloved could water her crappin’ herb garden. Not just any ditch, but a ditch through a clay gall overlapped with a 200 year old live oak. I decided to tackle this task after my morning workout at the Wellness Center. I figured if I could ride a bicycle 8 miles and do thirty pull ups, I ought to be in good enough shape to dig this ditch; besides, I didn’t want to pay 75 dollars to rent a ditch witch. That would have been too easy. Unfortunately, I forgot I am not 19 anymore.
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Munich and the Hofbrauhaus
The year was 2000. B. J. and I were on our second European tour. The countries and territories included in this extensive tour were Germany, Bavaria, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Count Dracula’s hangout, Transylvania. (Yes, Transylvania is a real place.)
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News from Rep. Smith
Around midnight on Thursday, March 29, the 2012 Georgia legislative session came to an end. Listed below, are some major issues that gained approval in both the House and Senate, and have been sent to the Governor for his consideration.
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