Tweet Been meaning to say something about this since it came to my attention a week or so ago. And like so many things I want to say something about, I don’t get to it, day after day, because there’s too much I want to say about it, and I don’t think I’ll have time, […]
Tweet Y’all know I’m a sucker for a written test, even if, as I take it, I can hear the voice of Admiral Ackbar crying, “It’s a trap!” Which was sort of the case with this one as it proceeded. Even as I thought I could see the trap taking shape and closing on me, […]
Tweet Been busy today, but here’s some stuff to talk about: Trump says U.S. and North Korea have had direct talks at ‘very high levels’ — Looking ahead, does anyone else get a chill at the idea of our hair-trigger lunatic sitting down with their hair-trigger lunatic and talking nuclear weapons? What could go wrong? Templeton […]
Tweet Not all that much going on: Senate passes spending bill, clearing way to end shutdown — For three week. Whoopee. Lindsey Graham sent out a release encased in the usual exclamation points: “! Graham Votes To End Government Shutdown !” But as he acknowledged, this is no win for the country. Personally, I think I’d […]
TweetWhen I met Howard Duvall at Starbucks the other day, I was delighted to see that they’d started using the red holiday cups. I have a lot of pleasant associations with that annual sign of the season, such as the time three of my kids and I stayed warm with such cups on a Black Friday […]
Tweet Andy Smith came in second behind Howard Duvall in Tuesday’s voting, but “we had such enthusiastic voters” that he’s optimistic about his ability to come out on top on Nov. 17. The key, he said, is “keeping our base engaged,” and turning out people who maybe didn’t get out on Tuesday. I asked him […]
TweetI found Howard Duvall Thursday on the sidewalk in front of the Vista Starbucks, talking on his cell phone. Afterwards, he tells me there’s been a change since he was the top vote-getter in his bid for the at-large seat on Columbia City Council Tuesday. He still spends much of the day trying to raise money, […]
Tweet The SC Policy Council now has the debate I participated in last month up on YouTube, in two parts, above and below. So watch if you’re interested in whether those who spend to influence elections should have to disclose their sources of income. Which is what it was about — not, as the Policy […]
Tweet I want to thank the newbie senator from North Carolina for taking some of the heat off South Carolina: Apparently, making restaurant workers wash their hands before exiting the bathroom is a sign of regulation gone overboard. At least that’s what Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina suggested on Monday during a discussion […]
TweetTo begin with, Tige Watts isn’t just running against Cameron Runyan because of the incumbent’s solitary stance in November against providing same-sex couples with marriage-related benefits. The 42-year-old Watts says that actually, his interest in running for council has been “bubbling up for awhile.” As he sees it, he started on this path 13 years […]
Tweet Apparently, Oprah does. Don’t know why, but when I saw those words on one of those insulator cuff things at Starbucks yesterday, the exhortation seemed remarkably goofy. Like something Bill and Ted, they of the Excellent Adventure, would say. You know, like “Be excellent to each other.” Or “Bogus. Heinous. Most non-triumphant. Ah, Ted, […]
TweetThis morning’s edition of Columbia Regional Business Report’s “Power Breakfast” series featured Mayor Steve Benjamin and developer Bob Hughes talking up Bull Street and baseball. I had overslept and dressed in a rush for the hyper-early event, and didn’t realize until I got there that I had worn my tie with the layouts of classic […]
Tweet OK, I’m trying to suppress the panic here… I was already pretty ticked off because the only tunes that showed up on my Apple TV were ones that I had “purchased” (either for money or by redeeming a free song from Starbucks or something) from iTunes. Whereas, most of the music that was in […]
TweetTwitter is celebrating its 8th birthday, and in connection with that has set up a website where you can find your very first Tweet ever. Allegedly, this is mine: First, I remember that Tweet. Weirdly, I was thinking about it during Mass this past Sunday. I was thinking about how it takes willpower to refrain […]
TweetAs I’ve mentioned before, Starbucks strives to be “A third place between work and home,” a place of community, more than a place that just sells awesome coffee. In recent years, McDonald’s has tried to get in on some of that “third place” action with its McCafé concept. Which has always seemed a bit odd, to […]
TweetFirst the news: I stopped in at the Vista Starbucks this morning and did not buy any coffee. I just wanted to see if they had any pound bags of Christmas blend beans left, which they did not. Anyway, as I was turning into Lincoln from Gervais, I had to wait for a pedestrian couple […]
TweetHere we are in the very last days of my very favorite store on Earth, the Barnes & Noble on Harbison. Its last day of operation is Tuesday… Dec. 31. The Harbison B&N is more than a store to me. Or perhaps I should say, something other than a store. I certainly made far more […]
Tweet Above is a cropped shot taken of three of my kids in Central Park in NYC on Nov. 23, 2007. It was the day after Thanksgiving, the day merchandisers call “Black Friday.” It was bitterly cold, and those cups of hot coffee were welcome. I show you this in order to note that, to […]
TweetMy readers here — hip, happening and with it as they are — hold Twitter in scorn as good for nothing better than telling what you just ordered at Starbucks (which they, inexplicably, regard as unimportant). Not that I’m hurt or anything, but not one, not one of you has yet congratulated me for reaching […]
TweetAs y’all know, one of my very favorite leisuretime activities is to go to Barnes & Noble, get a cup of coffee, and browse. And sometimes blog — it’s one of my favorite remote locations for that. I’ve done this in lots of Barnes & Nobles — such as in Memphis; Myrtle Beach; New York; […]