The 2013 International Word of the Year from the Oxford Dictionary is… selfie. It is defined as “a photograph of yourself that you take, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social networking website.” Selfie won out over some tough competition, with twerk, showrooming, bitcoin, and binge-watch in the running. The earliest… Continue reading
What does it take to get gun owners, Second Amendment advocates, the NRA, and anyone who carries a weapon concealed or otherwise to get their collective heads out of the sand? The recent mass killing at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC is yet another tragic incident of innocent victims murdered with firearms. Frankly,… Continue reading
As a card carrying atheist, I am a little fuzzy on the teachings of the Christian church, or for that matter, any church. Like most of us who grew up in the South I went to church as a kid. Like many of us, I quit. Somehow I got the message during my early forced indoctrination… Continue reading
What do Spanish moss, Jack Daniel’s No. 10, Yoknapatawpha County, and Darwinian evolution have in common? The first three conjure up images of the American South, but it is Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish moss) that makes us think of expansive white columned mansions and giant southern live oaks. You’ve seen these trees, growing in the shape… Continue reading
Summer has arrived in Atlanta. If high temperature, sweltering humidity, the Peachtree Road Race, and mosquitos were not enough, bullfrogs and fireflies treat us to a visual and auditory display on a summer evening. We have all heard bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) and seen the blinking of fireflies (Photuris lucicrescens) on a summer evening. Besides being… Continue reading