Local philathropist, gentleman and sage Pierce Cline was well known for the life lessons he learned himself and taught to others through wanderings along the Appalachian Trail.
Suppose you buy a gallon of gas for $3. How much did it cost you? You say, "Williams, that's a silly question. It cost $3." That's where you're mistaken, because there's a difference between price and cost.
There's an interesting picture hanging in the bathroom of a particular shop here in town.
Mitt Romney's secretly recorded comment that 47 percent of Americans are "dependent on the government" and "believe they are victims" isn't the only reason he lost the presidential campaign.
Last month, I got caught in the massive hail storm while teaching in Stockbridge. I took a picture of the larger than a golf ball-sized hail that pummeled the houses and cars in the Monarch Village neighborhood.
Take a life, any life, even your own. Write down all the known facts and documentation of that life, much but not all of it taken from public record: birth, parents, hometown, siblings, education, college transcripts, career, titles, marriage, children, divorce, volunteer positions, achievements, military service, address, church membership, diaries, daybooks and perhaps old letters retained by the sender or recipient.
My sister Kathy texted the news of the Boston Marathon bombing not long after it happened.
It turns out that you can go home again. I recently established a chair in crisis communications leadership at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at my beloved University of Georgia. UGA President-elect Dr. Jere Morehead, along with Dink NeSmith, chairman of the Board of Regents came for the ceremony and both made my family and me feel warmly welcomed on campus.
I suppose it is never a normal spring. But it does seem like we have gotten more rain than usual this spring. Not that there is anything wrong with that as Seinfeld would say. I am sure we will be hearing dire predictions of drought soon enough, and all the rain we have had lately will be forgotten.
I wish the weather would stop playing games with us here in the South. It wasn't more than a few weeks ago that I slipped into a pair of short pants for puttering around the house.
Gun control advocates sound puzzled by congressional resistance to relatively modest gun control legislation. Many cite a poll showing 90 percent of Americans support more background checks and suggest the National Rifle Association is the only reason Congress won't implement the will of the people.
Got a beef with your mortgage company or loan servicer? Lots of people do, and thousands of them have been turning to a federal complaint hotline for action - or at least a quick response from the lender.
A couple of weeks ago, Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson, speaking at The National Press Club, said the nation "would never tolerate white unemployment at 14 and 15 percent." Black unemployment has been double that of white Americans for more than 50 years. The black youth unemployment rate is more than 40 percent nationally. In some cities, unemployment for black working-age males is more than 50 percent. Let's look at this, but first let's ...
This isn't as easy as it looks - this putting together of ~750 words with a coherent thought every week.
An imaginative sort who spies a bright red fire truck parked outside a church might think one of two things: Either the congregants are burning up with the Holy Spirit and keep a fire truck on hand to cool things down once in a while, or the truck is a warning the fires of hell are close unless they toe the line.
Oh great. Now, the Obama administration is getting involved in public education in Georgia.
Here we are, ringing in yet another New Year. It's time for the annual wringing of hands at remembrances of ironclad resolutions made 12 months ago which somehow went unfulfilled. I planned to drop 60 pounds in 2010, but the scales report a 10-pound gain. The scales are probably wrong, after all, they're made in China. Obviously, something was lost in translation, although my girth is evidence of what was not. ...
If you're really into organization, if you're really into time management, if you really believe that "to everything there is a time and a season," then your Christmas decorations are back in storage in the attic, the Christmas tree has been tagged for the chipper, thank-you notes have been written, and the refrigerator is sparkling and clean, nary a leftover to be found.
Good grief! I haven't gotten used to writing 2010 yet and 2011 is here.
I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to Saturday.
I've wished for a white Christmas so many times it seems unreal that it may actually happen today.
When I was growing up in Porterdale, we had Christmas programs with folks singing all the Christmas carols in the gym. There was a huge tree in the center of the floor. It was a beautiful site.
As in most small cities, our downtown has experienced a sharp turnover in businesses in recent years. Retail businesses in small towns have faced competition from shopping centers with convenient parking and a greater variety of merchandise.
Thirteen years ago, before 8,000 teachers in Louisiana's capitol city, I watched in amazement as East Harlem public school teacher Kay Toliver held all in awe with a two-hour demonstration of effective teaching strategies combined with her commitment to the human touch in teaching. Two years ago, in Williamsburg, Va., I observed this same 30-year classroom veteran as she stressed her long-held belief that "powerful teaching includes the human touch."
I'm amazed each Christmas at how the whole world comes to a halt of sorts. Virtually every educated, civilized person aware of the calendar and in possession of modern communication devices knows that on this day Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Moslems, agnostics and atheists all know Jesus, whose followers claim him to be the Son of God, Savior, the propitiation for the sins of the world.
This time of year brings great joy as well as great stress. There is often too much to do, too much to eat, too much to drink, too little sleep and too much family. It's easy to get caught up in the holiday frenzy and forget the meaning and value behind the holidays, the holy days.
Now that you have finished shopping, wrapping, decorating, planning, cooking, packing, traveling, welcoming, there is one more thing.
"T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." Except that's not true this year at our house. On the night before Christmas, this house was alive With cats racing, wrestling and taking a dive. To the rafters they jumped, then slid down the stairs Knocked over the greenery, then hid in their lairs. Sonny was ...
For weeks, I awaited a call that never came from Gov.-elect Nathan Deal informing me that I would be a member of his transition team.
Christmas was simple when the children were young. Most years we'd celebrate at our home. Grandparents would come to us, and we'd open the gifts Christmas Eve night. Santa always came to our house first, (he has to start somewhere, after all). Santa timed his visits perfectly, arriving after the grandparents had taken our offspring out to look at the holiday lights. Donna and I would stay behind to clean ...