The Best Thing About Waking Up

I have an ax to grind with the weasel who first conceived the idea of putting images and messages on coffee mugs. You know, coffee mugs that have pictures or phrases on them commemorating places you’ve been or offering some funny observation. Those are the ones. I have about fifty of them, and I can’t… Read more »

Friday Night in Pensacola

Have you ever been to a bar or restaurant that was so good or so much fun that you almost didn’t want to tell anyone about it so that it didn’t get overrun? I knew a place like that in Memphis and now I’ve found one in Pensacola. Upstairs above The District Steakhouse, there is… Read more »

The Importance of Reading Instructions

Recently, my wonderful wife and I have been reminiscing about the joy of trying to teach teenagers to read the instructions that accompany new things. Some things are complicated to operate, and kids tend to ignore the instructions and just begin messing with the ‘thing’ until they either break it, or it works. With Ipads… Read more »

Boxes of Crap

Boxes of crap always pose unseen dangers for me. I keep mementos. I have a spirit ribbon from Douglas MacArthur Junior High football game in 1972. I’m sure it meant something at one time, but I seem to have killed the brain cells that held that memory. I can’t throw it away because I know… Read more »

Memphis

I haven’t lived in Memphis for over 30 years. For many of those years, I flew in and out of Memphis on a fairly semi-regular basis. Holidays and birthday always brought me back. In those days Memphis was a hub and there was a direct flight on Northwest from the cold, gray skies of New… Read more »

Momma and The Senator from Arkansas

Come July, Mom has been gone for 14 years. Each time we visit Jonesboro, we visit the cemetery where she and dad, as well as Coachie and Miss Dot rest. We give each a little bourbon, and we have a drink with them. We’ve done this so often and for so long, I’m surprised that… Read more »

Always the Last to Know.

There are times in your life when you discover things that are shocking, completely unexpected, just out of the clear blue sky. People manage these moments in different ways. We all have friends who are blessed with grace and poise, a calm demeanor able to absorb difficult news with control and dignity. I’m not one… Read more »

Take The Test Drive

One afternoon years ago, a friend who shall remain unnamed, unexpectedly dropped by my apartment at Avondale Armpits. Avondale Armpits were apartments in Jonesboro, located on Nettleton just east of the intersection with Church St. They were originally designed to be a Holiday Inn, but somehow the deal fell through while that place was under… Read more »

Remember the Alamo

A couple of years ago, I visited the Alamo. The ghosts are thick there. I used to not believe in ghosts, but after living in a haunted house in Pennslyvania many years ago, I became a believer. That’s a story for another time. Ghosts seem to be part of my life now. From Gettysburg to… Read more »

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A Southern Adventure Continues…..

Trying to get traction with the big publishers is like going to Nashville hoping to be discovered as the next big country music star. There are so many others with such incredible talent who are already there doing the exact same thing that you are doing that being ‘discovered’ in Nashville is next to impossible…. Read more »

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Latest

  • Keurig Maintenance Tips

    This morning dawned with a beautiful blue sky. The air was crisp and clean and clear. My morning coffee smelled wonderful as my trusty Keurig machine slowly pumped out it’s wonderful morning elixir. ‘Slowly’ is the operative word. My bride noticed it, too. The weather forecast called for rain so my plans of installing water… Read more »

  • Brisket

    My chocolate Lab, Svatchime, watched me warily all day long. In the pre-dawn hours, I carefully built my fire. The Big Green Egg came to easily to temperature. My brisket had sat overnight, salted and peppered, on a rack in the beer fridge. It was dry and looking good when I put it on the… Read more »

  • How to Shampoo Carpet

    I usually start early, about 6:00 AM, on a day when my wife is traveling. This way I can vacuum the carpets, and shampoo them in one continuous operation without interruptions of conference calls and other realities of real work. The first thing I do is check the vacuum cleaner. We have one of those… Read more »

  • An Afternoon Movie

    Many years ago, I took my daughters, ages 3 and 4, to see a movie. I remembered going to movies with my mom when I was a kid. Mom always picked stuff like “The Sound of Music” or “Mary Poppins”. Though ‘The Sound of Music’ eventually became one of my favorite movies of all time,… Read more »

  • Abby’s Irish Rose

    As we progress through Catfish’s final semester, I sometimes reminisce some about my final semester before graduation at Ole Miss some 39 years ago. Catfish seems to be approaching graduation in a much more controlled and reasoned manner than I did. He goes out to pubs with friends. They drink beer and talk about job… Read more »

  • The Gift

    When we were kids, my brother, my sister and I were always very eager to open a gift on Christmas Eve. It was our family tradition that we could each open one gift after dinner on Christmas Eve. We usually had to wait for a pretty good while after dinner to do it. We just… Read more »

  • The Great Quail Hunt

    Once I got my driver’s license, every Christmas Eve it was my job to go pick Ralph up, and after dinner, to take Ralph home.  Ralph was an old guy, and he was a Gentleman’s Gentleman, of sorts.  If you ever had a question about manners, Ralph was the guy to ask.  He helped my… Read more »

  • Old Friends and Holidays

    As the holidays approach, we are planning a visit to Jonesboro, Arkansas, my hometown. I always look forward to visiting home. With each visit, some friend of mine sees fit to tell my wife, Landi, yet another ‘Bill Story.  Some are quite entertaining and many are grossly exaggerated. Let’s just say there are few things… Read more »

  • Black Bart’s RV Park, Steak House and Saloon

    Last year, Landi and I drove from Pensacola florida to Las Vegas, and then on to Los Angles for Thanksgiving dinner with her brother, David.  It’s a long drive, but it is 100% something you ought to do.  If you wonder what has happened to America, drive across it.  You’ll meet wonderful people of all… Read more »

  • Tips for Frying a Turkey

    A fried turkey is a wonderful thing. It is moist. It is flavorful, and it’s not hard to do. There are some things that only experience can teach you, and toward this end, I have some advice to offer. First, brine the bird. A brined bird is a juicy bird. Google Alton Brown’s Turkey brine… Read more »