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July 9, 1999
Nomads have wandered through cities during the last two weeks, sold their goods and departed for lands of milk and honey.
They don't leave a trail, but their wares do – usually ashes, perhaps a foul-smelling odor but always a glowing experience.
Fireworks salespeople have rigorous lives. I recently caught up with one such seller, Smokin' Joe Romancandle. What follows is his normal day:
6 a.m. Wakes up, sings the "Star-Spangled Banner," eats a Pop-Tart and brushes his teeth.
July 3, 1999
Last month I was in Wal-Mart, and I aimlessly wandered into the vitamin aisle. There were hundreds of nutritional supplement items, but one caught my attention – shark cartilage.
Unfortunately, the label contained little information pertaining to what the product actually does, such as make one lose weight or grow a dorsal fin.
As a kid, I used to see "Jaws" on my wall at bedtime. Now I see health companies trying to withhold routine information on Jaws' cousins.
June 25, 1999
Can you keep a secret?
Last week, I met with a special agent from the Department of Defense. I had my shrubbery costume ready (luckily, there were no dogs around), but it wasn't necessary. The agent led me into a room in the Crawfordsville Armory, looked both ways and closed the door. The questioning was ready to begin.
June 18, 1999
Anyone fed up with the government? Ready to turn in your "Made in the U.S.A." clothing? You could have a chance to do just that — if you move south.
Southern Party organizers have registered with the secretaries of state in Florida, Georgia, Texas and Virginia, according to the Associated Press. The party hopes to establish ties in all former Confederate States plus six border states and eventually secede from the Union, a la the Civil War.
June 16, 1999
Last weekend, I was tangled in a crazy game of H-O-R-S-E with my cousins.
For those of you unfamiliar with the game, or think it is somehow tied to the Kentucky Derby, the game is simple. Make a basket (shoot, don't weave), and if the person behind you misses, they get a letter. You keep playing until you spell "horse." There are many versions of the game, including H-O-R-S-E-S, P-I-G, and a personal favorite, D-R-O-M-E-D-A-R-Y.
But which is more important to the game – athletic skill to make a shot, or being able to spell?
From the Archive
October 12, 2011
The Goodreads giveaway for Corporate Ties has been a huge success. I had 400 people sign up to receive a free copy of my new book. Of course, not everyone is on Goodreads, so I thought I'd also do a Facebook giveaway.
October 27, 2012
Sure, you could argue that attending a public school essentially excludes you from having privacy. But is it really necessary to add tracking chips to IDs for San Antonio students?
September 12, 2007
I am not considered a big fan of Microsoft by any stretch of the imagination, so if you are, I hope you will realize I'm trying to be unbiased as I talk about one of the lamest things I've ever seen online. And no, I'm not talking about the Internet Pizza.
October 11, 2005
Have you ever noticed how rumors can become fact if they continue to be peddled as the truth? While there are numerous email and online scams that still permeate the Web, one of the greatest scams has been the aluminum can pull tabs one.
You might even be one of those people who are positive those pull tabs are redeemable for extra time for dialysis machines, or that they contain more aluminum than the rest of the can. Guess what: You're wrong!
November 24, 2004
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has added .post and .travel to its list of allowable domain names. Businesses and groups apparently will have the right to apply for these domain names soon, it's not quite clear just when someone would expect to actually see them live on the web. For more information about the additions, read a recent USA Today story about it.