Suddenly, it is Christmas. Here’s praying that the new year brings peace and prosperity, that at least some of your hopes and wishes are fulfilled. As for me, I am grateful as always for family, friends, and undeserved good health.
Once again, our house is filled with decorations. However, an overly curious kitten named Ozzie the Terrorist compelled my Beautiful Mystery Companion to only decorate the top half of the indoor tree. He has mainly behaved around the rest of the decorations. A judiciously used spray bottle of water provides an incentive for him to stay out of the collection of Santas...
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I recently received an anonymous email from a reader of my Capital Highlights column, which I have been writing for about five years for the Texas Press Association. It runs weekly in about 100 Texas newspapers. I am the latest in a half-dozen or so writers of this column, which possibly began in the 1940s. No one is quite sure. The premise of Capital Highlights is simple. I comb the state’s major news outlets, state government agency news releases, and other legitimate sources for items of interest to readers. It is primarily published in smaller newspapers that do not subscribe to a wire service,...
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I learned the other day that the Book of the Month Club is about to turn 100 years old. I mistakenly assumed BOMC had gone the way of the pay phone and the slide rule. But it is still around, offering a curated monthly shortlist of fiction with an emphasis on emerging writers. Good for them.
I first subscribed to both BOMC and the History Book Club while still in high school in the early 1970s. The latter had a compelling introductory offer, something like four hardcover, first-edition books for $10. In return, members agreed to buy a set number of books annually, maybe six. I confess that I gamed...
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Time moves slowly but passes quickly
— Alice Walker, “The Color Purple”
“You’re fine for another 10 years,” the gastroenterologist said after I awakened from a colonoscopy on Monday morning. That is what he also told me 10 years ago, the last time I had this preventive procedure done. “Nothing to worry about. Come back when you turn 80.”
Jeez.
Propofol is the amnesia used in most colonoscopies. Michael Jackson died from abusing it. His doctor was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Used properly, it provides what is called “twilight sleep,” acts within seconds,...
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