Let me begin by saying I dislike Valentine’s Day and always have. I think an act of love on a random day for no particular reason has far more meaning than a bouquet of flowers, a box of candy, and a mushy card given on a day when you have no real choice but to…
Category: (Gene)ric Ramblings
Breaking News: Gene Strother Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Dateline: Somewhere in East Texas, December 10, 2009 The AP, UPI, and Rooters (Arkansas’ state newspaper, not the better known Reuters somewhere over there in the UK) have just learned on this momentous day when President Barrack Obama is set to receive his Nobel Peace Prize that Gene Strother (pronunciation unknown), a popular blogger in…
Wandering the Backroads of My Mind
Towns in these parts have international names. There is Paris, Detroit, Bogata, New Boston (and Old Boston), Naples, Atlanta, and Omaha, to name a few. Perhaps they were named by those who founded them based on the places they had once called home. Perhaps they believed that if they gave a town a noble name,…
It’s In the Game: Confessions of a Football Junkie
My dad once said to me, “Son, if they were to open up your head and examine your brain, they’d find it shaped like a football.” He wasn’t necessarily wrong. Just about as long as I can remember, I have been in love with the game of football. I don’t really know why. I have…
Pieces of Me
Tossing about in the bed last night, chasing the elusive slumber I so desperately sought, my mind wandered back to the places I have been and people I have seen the past couple of weeks. Weekend before last, Donya and I flew to Texarkana, Arkansas to spend a couple of days. There is only one…
Sweet Escape
(Reprinted from 2003) Do you remember the Chevrolet Tahoe commercials from a few years ago, the ones featuring a poemread by James Garner? The first time I heard the poem, I was smitten. I hadto find out who wrote it, where it came from. I kind of thought it might bea Dr. Seuss offering I…
Thoughts on Human Nature, Limitations, Predispositions, and Rising Above
The more I observe life and the lives of others and – when I am brave enough for self-observation – my own life, the more I believe that we are what we are by the force of our own nature, much more than any nurture we have received. Plenty of people have risen above their…
Therefore, I Am
What Did you think I would think At this moment? That’s What I thought You thought I thought. I think.
The Big Picture Man
The Devil’s in the Details At least that’s what they say I don’t mind I’m the kind Who never cared for details anyway
¡Put the apple cart!
Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down…
My Savior Got to Thee
…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb. 12:2 (NKJV) “How Great Thou Art” is one of my favorite hymns. I grew up not…
Hip Shots, Vier
OK, Net typists, time for a few observations from the grumpy Gramps: Decide whether “ur” means “your” or “you are” and stick with it. Or, better, just type the extra letters. Take your time and be sure that you’re using “your” and “you’re” appropriately. Understand that “loose” refers to change in your pocket while “lose”…
Under Jonah’s Hex
Maybe it is my age. Maybe it is my personality. Maybe it is a phase. Whatever it is, I keep finding myself pulled back into the 70’s lately. The latest culprit to drag me back to that simpler time is the upcoming Jonah Hex movie. Jonah Hex was a comic book character. Wikipedia describes him……
Saturday Nights Were Special
Dateline Dallas (and Mineral Wells) TX -Anybody else out there remember Saturday Night Wrestling from the Sportatorium in Dallas back in the 1970s? You do??? Cheers! Read on. If not, read on anyhow for some sweet memories you might yet make… So, I am checking FaceBook the other day and I see the note that…
Remember When…?
Remember when K-Mart was cool and you had never heard or thought of the word Wal-Mart? I do. Remember the big Montgomery Ward store in Fort Worth and how cool it was when your parents took you there around Christmas time and you got to try out the newest six-shooters and ride on the escalator?…
Hip Shots, Tres
Mr. Summer: I am all done with you. You may be dismissed. Please return to the hellacious inferno from whence you came. Or…did you lose your way? The Sahara is east…waaaay east of here. Godspeed. To all those who “beg the question,” if all you are saying is that some event or thought raised a…
Hip Shots, Deux
Quirky is cool. Donya and I visited Gerty‘s, a little shop in one of those antique mall type settings (only this is not an antique mall; it is more of a collection of quirky shops, catering mostly to women), which Donya’s mom and three other ladies own. As I browsed the various shops while trying…
Hip Shots
Blackie Sherrod, One of my favorite old-time newspaper columnists, wrote a column of random observations for the Dallas Morning News . He called it Scatter-Shooting. In the column, he would offer a collection of observations, opinions, and news items that were completely unrelated. Since imitation is the finest form of flattery, I tip my hat…
Boston: Reflections on a Journey
Now that I am comfortably settled back into my little nook (or cranny, if you will), I find myself prone to reflection upon our trip to Boston. I think I can best express my thoughts and feelings by suggesting and enlarging upon four words… Patriotism With the “ask not what your country can do for…
The Worst Day Fishing…
You have seen the bumper stickers and t-shirts declaring, “The worst day fishing is better than the best day working.” Yesterday, my brother and I put that theory to the test. It was a gorgeous day, barely into the 80’s, sun shining brilliantly from it’s perch in a clear, blue sky. There was a breeze…