Don’t dis Mississippi

May 19, 2012 - 9:21pm

My friend AJ was looking right put out the other day when we got together for a beer after work.“What’s wrong, AJ?” I asked. “Looks like somebody licked the red off your candy.”“Dude, I am flat out aggravated with the way people keep putting down Mississippi.”“I know how you feel.

A mother with style and grace

May 12, 2012 - 8:46pm

In the mountain town where I was born I often felt like I was the only kid in my whole neighborhood without a father.

Pondering the mystery of love

May 5, 2012 - 9:29pm

Do you remember that old Tammy Wynette song, ‘stand by your man?’” my buddy AJ asked.

A tough question for Abner

By Steven March | April 28, 2012 - 10:18pm

The last time I was in Lucky’s Billiards, Ely Jones was talking about a show he had seen on TV about the way babies are conceived.

Cavorting with the floozies

April 22, 2012 - 12:12pm

“I was looking through the dictionary,” my friend AJ said, “and I came across an interesting word,’cavort.

Worst kind of deception

April 14, 2012 - 7:03pm

“I heard a lady on TV say that the average person hears over 200 lies a day,” my friend AJ said.

Forgetting the real engineer

April 7, 2012 - 8:47pm

I stopped by Lucky’s Billiards last week and JJ Potts was fussing about the Greek government.

Bible stories would be X-rated

March 31, 2012 - 4:41pm

“I been reading The Old Testament lately,” my friend AJ said. We were at our favorite pub, unwinding with a cold beer after work.

Stephen March: Amendment protects the foolish

March 24, 2012 - 9:37pm

The last time I visited Lucky’s Billiards, JJ Potts was telling the boys that his cousin Lutie had gotten arrested again. “That boy stays in trouble,” JJ declared. “He always has been wild as a Texas twister.”“What did he do this time?” Ed Thigpen asked.“He was on his way to work and saw that the trooper had pulled a driver over for speeding.

Mitt’s Southern strategy

March 17, 2012 - 6:00pm

A buddy of mine who was born and raised in the Delta was visiting family members there recently.

Jobs teach life lessons

March 10, 2012 - 10:25pm

Although I now work as a university professor, I have had a number of other jobs that would look out of place on a professional resume; however, most of these jobs have enriched my life in immeasurable ways.

Smart phone: A wonder to behold

March 3, 2012 - 3:14pm

When I dropped by Lucky’s Billiards last week, Earl 
Flynn was showing off his new smart phone to all the boys.“I can watch my favorite TV shows on this thing,” Earl said. “I can shop on the Internet, watch a movie, listen to the radio, and take a picture, too, then send it to my wife.

A new type of thievery

February 25, 2012 - 10:13pm

“You know it pays to look closely at a person before you make up your mind about him,” my buddy AJ said the other day.

No one else but you

February 18, 2012 - 6:24pm

What do a watermelon, a college textbook, and a visit to the doctor have in common?

Memories of winter mornings

February 11, 2012 - 5:53pm

When I was a boy, my mother woke my brother and me up to go to school with a 45 rpm record playing a song about a spider named “Willie,” who had so many legs it took him a long time to get his shoes on in the morning.

Winter sun gone by five o’clock

February 4, 2012 - 6:18pm

When I was 13 years old my mom lost her job and could no longer make the mortgage payments on our house in Tennessee.

The powerful poetry of Eric Weil

January 28, 2012 - 4:02pm

In our fast-paced, techo-driven world, the art of reading and writing poetry on the printed page seems to be on a fast track to obsolescence.

The mystery of fancy titles

January 21, 2012 - 2:32pm

The last time I visited Lucky’s Billiards, Hank Slater was bragging about a job his niece had just gotten at the new Chevy dealership outside of town.“She’s the first person you see when you walk in the showroom,” Hank said. “She’s got a desk and there’s a table with coffee and doughnuts right next to the desk.”“What type of job is she doing at the Chevy place?” JJ Potts asked.“It’s got a real fancy title.

‘Artists’ with the truth

January 14, 2012 - 4:32pm

“I read in the paper about the argument the city councilman had with the lineman,” my friend A.J. said.

The appeal of Hamlet

January 7, 2012 - 5:57pm

Of all of Shakespeare’s memorable characters — including Othello, Lady Macbeth, Rosalind and Lear — none lingers more in audiences’ minds than Hamlet.

Broken clock kept strange time

December 31, 2011 - 10:40pm

Many years ago, I worked for a while as a piano player in a bar in Woodstock, Vt.

Christmas memories at Lucky’s

December 24, 2011 - 8:01am

When I last stopped by Lucky’s Billiards, the boys were talking about hard it is for people to get by these days.“According to an article I read, 45 percent of Americans are struggling to make ends meet,” JJ Potts declared. “I sure feel sorry for those folks, especially at Christmas time.”“You should feel sorry for me, then,” said Leon Bell, who was retired from the PO. “People living on fixed incomes have it rough, what with the high price of medicine and gas.

The girl in Possum Hollow

December 17, 2011 - 10:35pm

Idropped into Lucky’s Billiards the other day, and Hank Slater and JJ Potts were recalling old flames and memorable skirmishes with females they had known.“I used to have this powerful passion for a pint-sized brunette that lived way up in Possum Hollow,” Hank said. “She was hotter than a Tijuana chili pepper, but her daddy kept a hawk’s eye on her.

Swamp Granny ponders elections

December 10, 2011 - 11:16pm

On the way back home from a trip to Charleston, S.C., I stopped in to see the fortune teller known as “Swamp Granny.”Swamp Granny is famous in the low country for her uncanny ability to know things that other people somehow miss.

Election about new jobs

December 5, 2011 - 2:41pm

My friend AJ and I were having a beer the other day after work and the topic of the economy came up.