It’s official. They are not together!

Star couple and picture perfect pair Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston did a formal announcement of their break-up through the office of Aniston’s publicist, Stephen Huvane. This announcement came after tabloid stories said that the couple’s marriage was indeed on the rocks. The announcement mentioned that the reasons for the couple’s split are difficult schedules and disagreement on whether or not to have children. Both stars have been busy with movie schedules and TV programs. Divorce... Read more »

Using the Right Images and Photos for Your Ebook Cover

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” That saying may be ages old but its message is just as vital today as when it was first uttered. Simply put, a single image can often communicate what might take you one thousand words (more or less) to say or write. You have already spent the time putting together an ebook or software package that you want to market on the Internet. You have chosen the right words for your title and any other text you might use on the book cover. Now you have to... Read more »

Dice Sports Games That Are Fun; the Pro Football Game.

This is the next installment in a world of incredibly fun sports games played with dice. In the first installment I taught you how to play the college version of “Dice Football”. That was the simplest of all my dice sports games. Now it is time to start getting a little more complex. As, in all my dice football games you will need two dice, notebook paper and a pen or pencil. You will recall that in the college version you got your box score set up so that you can begin the game and... Read more »

Couch Potato Success Factors

There are five key character traits of superior couch potatoes. You really do need to become aware of these critical success factors if you are to master the underground couch potato world. 1. A total lack of interest in the outside world. Any self respecting couch potato has virtually no interest whatsoever in venturing out doors. There is no point since all your human needs can be satisfied in your living room. 2. The ability to let go of all personal ambition. This is a character trait of the... Read more »

Cashing in on Man Made Global Warming by Using Offsets

Some celebrity singer was recently quoted as saying that in order to save more trees we ought to limit ourselves with just one sheet of toilet paper for every visit to the bathroom. That is with the lone exception being up to three sheets for those really messy deals. Bear in mind that she is now claiming to have been joking at that time. Was it said with tongue in cheeks humor? Whether or not she was joking is up for debate. However, it must be noted that she is a blond and a celebrity with a cause.... Read more »

The Woody Allen Quick Quips Survival Guide

How do we handle the stress of life? Zen and yoga are probably on top of the list. But what’s the next best thing? Humor. Definitely humor. Somehow it clears the mind. It’s hard to be mad or sad when you’re laughing. When impending clouds of gloom are pierced with a ray of sunny wit, they appear to dissolve quicker. But sometimes we need help in finding something funny about our dilemma. Fortunately, to our rescue comes Woody Allen. In his movies, despite the pathos of the... Read more »

Never Open An Outhouse Door Without Knocking

I suppose that every hometown of every child holds certain favorite hiding places, or short cuts, or little-known doors or cubbyholes or secret passageways or whatever, and Auburn was no exception. One of my favorite such places was the train tunnel that ran under Palm Avenue and the Auburn reservoir, and came out just this side of Gasoline Alley, a wide spot on Highway 49 about a mile north of where I lived. Tales of being caught in the tunnel when the train came were standard Auburn lore;... Read more »

How I Found Out That God Bowls On Monday Evenings at 7

I grew up in a little town named Auburn in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. On Sundays we faithfully attended the Pioneer Methodist Church, directly across the street from Harry Sand’s Chapel of the Hills Funeral Home. My folks were married in that church in September of 1929, a fact which had nothing to do with the crash of the stock market the following month. Of course I couldn’t know then that my parents 50th anniversary reception would be held in that church, and five... Read more »

How Grandma’s Lap Robe Saved My Legs

We lived almost exactly one mile from the heart of Auburn California on Palm Avenue between the old Highway 49 and the new, broader Highway 49; the highway that connects Auburn with Grass Valley, both towns formed during the Gold Rush of 1849. The city limit line ran right down the center of Palm Avenue, so we lived just a few feet inside the “city”; really a town of about 3000. Palm tress, unusual in Auburn, used to line our road, but through the years some fell, some were cut down by... Read more »

How To Impress Girls - Or Maybe Not

Somewhere around the summer between my 5th and 6ths grade years at EV Cain Elementary School a girl named Rhonda moved from Grass Valley to Auburn, and there was something about her that fascinated me. I saw her sometimes during the summer, going to the show with other girls, or shopping downtown with her Mother. She was intriguing to me for some reason. I can’t think of that reason now, but I wanted to meet her, or to do something, anything, so she would notice me. Once I saw her at the town... Read more »