In 1814, Russian poet and fabulist, Ivan Krylov, wrote “The Inquisitive Man”. This fable tells of a man who goes to a museum and notices all sorts of tiny things but fails to notice an elephant. This is where we get the proverbial phrase “the elephant in the room”, meaning the obvious thing that everyone…

Do you ever feel like your life is out of control? In the song “Locomotive Breath,” Jethro Tull sings: Oh, he feels the piston scrapingSteam breaking on his browOld Charlie stole the handleAnd the train it won’t stop going, No it won’t slow down Tull said the song was about overpopulation. It’s definitely not about a…

One of my sons ate a PB&J sandwich every day for lunch through lower and middle school (this was before they banned peanuts). The PB&J is far from a gourmet meal. It’s pedestrian. It’s simple. It is also healthy. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be a nutritionally balanced meal filled with protein, healthy…

It’s officially football season again. On Saturday, we got to watch our first game in the newly renovated south section of Boone Pickens Stadium (Go Pokes!). Our seats are perfect—on the 50 yd line and far enough up so we are in the shade for midday games. I’ve had seats in the first few rows,…

I have always loved fire and explosions. By the time I was a teenager, I had accidentally set our detached garage on fire three times, learned how to distill wood alcohol, and made my own fireworks (yes, you can make black powder from common ingredients at home). While I was part “mad scientist,” I also…

My father and I have a little game/competition when we go out to eat. We both want to be the one to pay the bill, so we try to sneak our credit card to the waitress without the other knowing. The exception to this rule is our Friday morning breakfasts. I always pay. He always…

Recently, I accidentally became the leader and spokesperson for a faction I don’t even identify with. I became the poster boy for this small, but very vocal, sect of people by winning a pie. Well, more accurately, by what I did when I won the pie. Maybe I should just tell you the story. I…

“I’m getting old, it’s personal. I’ll take my toll in panoramic view.” These words from AWOLNATION’s song of the title above struck me as particularly relevant recently. Everything (and everyone) ages. Several things seem to happen naturally as we (and the things around us) get older. However, just because things are typical doesn’t mean they are inevitable.…

Recently, I was watching  Gordon Ramsay’s show, Kitchen Nightmares. He was invited to the Bel Aire diner in New York to help two brothers turn around the restaurant their parents left them. His first observation comes when he sits down to order from their multi-paged menu. He comments that there are too many items on the menu…

I have recently become addicted to a puzzle called “Connections.” The puzzle presents 16 words in a 4 x 4 grid, and you must select four words at a time that are “connected” in some way. The puzzle creators rank the four sets by difficulty and identify them by color once you have selected them…