“I’m Everybody at this Table but Betsy.”

So, the folks are here, which means that we had to play a game of 500 rummy and since I have no card skills, I have to rely on luck. Luck was not with me. I didn’t even break 200.  If you’ve played rummy, you know that not even breaking 200 is almost a physical [...]

10. The Widow Ledbetter

Most everyone can tell you that Jesse James was killed by Robert Ford.  What most people cannot tell you is how Frank James managed to live until he was 72.  Was he not also an outlaw?  Did people not die at his hand?  How is it that Jesse died and Frank lived? It seems luck.  [...]

What America Did You Have?

Yesterday broke me, I have to admit. I got home and I wanted a fire and there was only one match left and the wood was wet and I wanted to crochet and I’ve lost my hook and I just felt like there was not a single thing I could easily pull together to make [...]

9. Dead and Gone

In the old City Cemetery, if you turn right down the first lane once you get in, you’ll see a large monument with no writing on it.  The sides of the stone, where the words should go, has been worn clean.  Or so it appears. The first person who told me the story of this [...]

I Now Have an ‘Honest, Heartfelt’ Revulsion to McWherter

Woods reports: “The fact of the matter is, what he said is where he is on this issue. No one in the campaign is going to sit here and try to nuance it. That’s just where he is personally on the issue. At this point, there’s really nothing else to say about it. He was [...]

I Woke Up Still Fuming at McWherter

Okay, let’s look at this again: McWherter does support the ban, and feels that having parents of the opposite sex is better for a child. He says that the Department of Children’s Services reports to the governor, so as governor, he would be responsible for children in need of this service. I followed up by [...]

Well, Scratch McWherter Off The List of Acceptable Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates

It’s an easy enough question. Say you only have one sibling and he is gay. He’s been with his partner for fifteen years. Your kids love them both, adore them.  They are your only family in the world. If you and your spouse die, would your kids be better off being adopted by them or [...]

8. The Brentwood Library

I don’t think there’s anyone in town who doesn’t remember this.  It started bad enough.  When they went to break ground for the Brentwood library, right across the road from the giant, narrow steal diamond of the WSM radio tower, they found Native American remains.  And so construction was delayed while the city and the [...]

Ooo, About the Ghost Stories

I don’t know if you noticed, but you can find them all in the category “All the Same Old Haunts” under “Ooo, Spooky.”  Or you can click on the map to make it a full page and you’ll see a list of all the titles of the stories and, as they go live, you can [...]

What I’m Learning

I was just saying in an email that the thing that’s kind of blowing my mind about writing these ghost stories and then getting your reaction from them is that, even though I have a master’s degree in literature, I feel like I knew nothing important about fiction before taking on this project and hearing [...]

Let’s Do the Time Warp Again!

It’s like Tennessee Democratic leadership thinks “It’s just a step to the left, and then a jump to the right,” is some kind of campaign strategy. I don’t know.  I’m tired of complaining about the Tennessee Democrats.  I would like for them to stand for something even remotely resembling actual Democratic principals, state-wide.  And I’d [...]

Look Here

This photo makes me feel like I’m hearing something true in a language I don’t know.

The Itch

People, let me just say at the start that, if you are planning on having any type of medical problems, you should just befriend Coble, because she will send you emails like, “Hey, you may not know this, but a lot of people who take thus and such find they have this thing once they [...]

7. All the Same Old Haunts

They say that Interstate 40 sliced the heart of the city in two.  But the truth is that, as a Southern town, Nashville always had two hearts.  Broadway for some folks and Jefferson Street for others.  Back before the interstate almost killed it, Jefferson Street between Fisk and TSU was home to some of the [...]

Send Help!

Man, I wish I hadn’t been so “Oh, national liberals, what do they know?” because if ever there were a time when we we needed help, this may be it. Folks, check this. You may need to make this bigger, but this is such a hilarious epic fail it’s hard to know where to start.  [...]

It’s Always the Fear that We’re Going to Bleed All Over Everything

Did y’all see this?  “NASA officials were concerned, among other things, about women’s inexperience flying experimental military aircraft (due to being barred from the Air Force) and also about menstruation.” Dang.

Two Quick Reviews

1. “Trick r Treat.”  When I got home from work, the Butcher said, “You have to watch this.”  He even set up the tv and the stereo and the Playstation so that I could. (People, he tried to be all “You just have to use this remote to flip this here and then come push [...]

The Conservative Bible

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard of the nascent efforts to create a true Bible, based on conservative beliefs. I’d like to point you to an actually informative and interesting take-down of this effort over at Got Medieval. This is the best line, but the whole piece is brilliant and funny: “Schlafly is trying [...]

Andy Berke, If I Have a Heart Attack, It’s Your Fault

Ha, I could totally use my cow to squirt milk at Andy Berke, who is sending me emails all about what fat slobs we are and how we’re ruining Tennessee with our fat slobbitude. And lately, he’s even asking me to knock the cake out of fat kids’ hands. Berke, life is hard enough for [...]

6. Dodge City

Chuck Anderson lived through this. I should say that up front. He was young, six or seven, and his brother Antwane was twelve or thirteen.  Their mother worked at the grocery store across from the projects there on Murfreesboro Road, just past where it changes names from Lafayette.  The three of them lived in one [...]

Best Protest Practice Ever

I’m about ready to get a cow and a cause just so I can do this.

It’s Raining

Um, yes, so I had a lovely lunch with nm and we settled on some important gardening matters.  We saw literally everyone–my neighbor Jason, Ginger and her daughter, Peter Cooper, um… I think Nate Rau. And then I left and it was only sprinkling. It started to rain more heavily. So I hid under a [...]

A Star in My Yard

This morning, I saw something bright yellow on the ground next to the shed. I mean, a bright lemony yellow, noticeable from across the yard. And I couldn’t figure out what it was, so I went over to it and it was a yellow five-pointed star. It took me longer than it should have to [...]

5. The Three Babies

It was not that long ago that they were looking to widen Hillsboro Pike where it crosses Old Hickory Boulevard, down there by the big church.  And you may recall that they found an ancient grave site there, and the bodies of three babies. These babies were so old they had no people left, not [...]

Navel Gazing at the Ghost Stories

God, I wish I had set it up for them to launch at 8 p.m. instead of 9! Every night I’m dying in anticipation to see what y’all think.  And I’m having my mind blown to see the responses. I’m going to have to give it some thought, but it’s definitely weird to have such [...]