Perhaps you are under the impression that summer is fun and carefree, especially for kids. Perhaps you are incorrect. As a longtime connoisseur of scare journalism (“Next on News 4: What you don’t know about suntan lotion can kill you”), I feel it’s my duty to alert you to a heretofore undiscovered hazard of summer,

Having been a dog owner my whole life, I have decided they are not only as smart as many people – including most of those who run for president – I think we can also learn a lot by observing how they live their lives. One example from a few months ago: Tonka, our current

I had the following conversation with my son Henry, the teenager, in the car the other day. Me: “How was school, buddy?” Him (mumbling, half-asleep against the backseat door): “Er-rahg.” Me: “What?” Him: “Er-RAH-guhrahg.” Me: “What?” Him: “Er-rah-gharagh. Slrrvuh-mrrblp!” Me: “Listen, I can’t … your blp was erraghed? Is that what you said?” Him (more

Long before the recent United Airlines incident in which a man was bloodied and dragged off a plane for refusing to give up his seat, I thought air travel was the most dismal form of transportation known to man; with the possible exception of camel. But that incident certainly confirmed it. How many other modes

A new study by the American Psychological Association says that constantly checking your e-mail, Facebook and Twitter accounts can be hazardous to your mental health. As my back-home pal, Moon Dimple would probably say: “Well, duh. Next, they’ll tell us eating lard straight from the can is bad for you, too.” It’s true that experts

I were asked to say something nice about the month of March at its funeral, I’d have to decline. What’s there to say? “March was like a girlfriend I once had – usually cold and frosty, but with an occasional glimpse of warmth”? “March? Well, it was good for connecting February to April, I guess”?

A news story I just read reports that young people are starting to have their tattoos removed and their piercings spackled over (or however it is that doctors fix such things). “Many are seeking to reverse the impulsive, perhaps keg-fueled decisions of their not-quite-lost youths,” the article said. “That tongue piercing, that bone through the

At this time of year, I often hear people say, “I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions because I never know what resolutions to make.” People, you can’t be serious! I encounter many of you each and every day, and let me assure you that you are, as columnist Dave Barry once wrote, “huge, teeming flaw

Dear Santa, It’s been two years, and a lot of the lead pipes are still here. Could you please give a dictionary to our state and national elected officials with the word “crisis” highlighted in yellow? We’re starting to think they don’t quite get it. Sincerely, The People of Flint     Dear Santa, Can

  Someone who lives elsewhere asked me this the other day. It gave me pause for a split second. The easy answer would be, “No.” Flint, after all, has absorbed sucker punch after sucker punch for the past three decades now – layoffs, decline, crime, blight, flight, City Hall shenanigans. And now, of course, there’s

A female friend of mine recently asked me, “Do you know what season it is?” “Well,” I replied, “since the leaves are beginning to turn and the stores are already changing over from Halloween crap to Christmas crap, I’m going to take a wild guess and say early fall.” She frowned. No one appreciates sarcasm

My wife and I are standing in the sweltering, mid-morning heat on the sidewalk near Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee – three long states from home – saying goodbye to our son Sam, our oldest. We are trying to be very brave. Marcia is hugging him like she’s never going to let go. I’m being