One Nation, Under God
One Nation, Under God
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Last Thursday night, somewhere in between the two channels that showed American Idol, was a channel that premiered a brand new weight loss show. While I used to love the Biggest Loser, I have found myself finally getting annoyed with all the tears and terrible pop songs that come with watching that show. Though I am probably done with The Biggest Loser I am still very much intrigued by weight loss shows and documentaries. That being said it was a surprising to find a show that had an emphasis...
It’s around this time of year I get a real hankering for Mountain Dew. If you know me then you know that my vice used to be a certain neon colored drink made by Pepsi-Co. It wasn’t just the original flavor that tickled my fancy, it was the orange flavored Livewire, the purple colored Pitch Black and red Code Red Mountain Dew flavors that I craved. I get the craving because on December 31, 2009, I gave up pop with the intention of not drinking it until 2020. In other words ten years. Many of you...
For the past few years I have been spoiled during the Christmas season because my wife Susan has not only blessed me with an abundance of gifts. It hasn’t only been the amount of gifts, but the quality as well. It doesn’t end there. She gets so excited about the gifts she gives me that she always lets me open them well before Christmas. Feeling I need to reciprocate, I always let her un-wrap hers as well. This year we came close to waiting as most of America does, but less than one week to go,...
Ever since it started snowing, it has been hard to get out of bed. While beautiful, winter is the most depressing season in my opinion. Thank God for sports, otherwise I might be a shut-in. Go to work, go home. Re-peat. Luckily this County has several competitive teams in the winter season. I love hearing the optimism in players’ and coaches’ minds at the start of basket-ball and wrestling season. To see the hard work of our local athletes played out in games and meets is en-couraging to me....
Between binge-writing stories, picking up and delivering the PCN on Mondays and Tuesdays, on Wednesday my brain is drained. Of course the weekend adds to the brain fatigue I feel on Wednesday. Not to joke about the medical condition but in my tired state of mind things get bipolar real fast. I have less control over my mind on Wednesday mornings. I can sing anything from love ballads to rap at any given moment. I can go from over the top excited to useless in minutes. Sometimes in my tired...
I’m encouraged by the amount of athletes that enjoy lifting weights. It’s apparent that Malta has had plenty of success in sports thanks in part to a hard work ethic in the gym. Since my high school years I have also become infatuated with becoming stronger through weight training. I’ve never turned to alcohol or drugs during the “low” times in my life. I’ve always found prayer and the iron to be more therapeutic. There’s nothing like kicking off your week with 300 pounds on the back of your...
Life throws you a curveball sometimes and all you can do is either take a swing or leave it alone with hope that the umpire makes a call in your favor. I had a curve ball the other day, a furry, disease carrying type. My wife Susan knew something was up when the peanut butter on our set up mouse trap was licked clean. (Don’t worry it’s the plastic type and would only scare PJ if he tripped it.) There was no possible way PJ could lick the peanut butter off without it snapping and Bruce isn...
I have to say I’m proud of all of our high school sports teams. The season may not have ended with the coveted State Trophy but our schools have gotten a lot closer than many schools have this year. For there to be so many cross country runners to even make it to state this season was an encouragement. Second round of the playoffs for the football team and volleyball team? I’ll take it. Though the football season ended last Saturday, it was great to see the team going over their last film of...
I really wish I could’ve jumped on the Cubs bandwagon this post-season…. But honestly, I just couldn’t do it. No matter how many seasons they have under .500, I just can’t abandon my White Sox and it felt like if I cheered for the Cubbies, I would be in the wrong. People ask, how can you be from Chicago and not like a team representing your city? Looking from the outside that is a valid question but for some reason sports can bring out the worst of people. It’s ridiculous when you look at things...
I must’ve walked under a ladder or something weird because the week before last was pretty rough. My week of misfortune started during a game in which Malta defeated Shelby in the rainiest football game Malta has seen in some time. I went to Mustang field that day to accomplish one thing. That thing was to do my job. I definitely did that, taking tons of pictures and I even stayed out to interview players and the coach after the game. Mission Complete, right? It was complete but little did I k...
Last week I started to monologue about how I wasn’t involved in nearly anything during my high school career and how I traveled back to my hometown to participate in my ten year reunion. You may wonder why I traveled so far to see a bunch of people that I haven’t talked to in years. It may be because I have regrets about missing out on all that my high school had to offer. I regret not playing football, basketball or even trying out for track. I regret not trying to make efforts to hang out wit...
In high school I was never one to have “school spirit.” I was never the type to yell from the top of my lungs during our football games. As far as after school activities, the most I was involved was lifting weights after class. I didn’t hang out with many of my friends and or acquaintances after school was out. I was never a straight A student or star athlete. In ten years, I haven’t talked to more than ten people that I graduated with. That didn’t stop me from attending my ten year reunion a...
I’m a pretty superstitious guy when it comes to sports. I couldn’t tell you why I re-fuse to get off of the couch until halftime during Bears games or why I have to have seltzer with lime as my beverage of choice. I do know that since I have strayed from certain rituals the Bears have been terrible. That couldn’t be my fault, could it? There are a matter of reasons why the Bears have been playing horrible, but I have to say after the defense stood tall to the NFC champion Seahawks last Sun-day (...
As I sit at my desk entering the various sports schedules into my Google Calendar Application, I can’t help but get a little excited for the scholastic sports year. One thing I’m excited for is the fact that on various occasions Phillips County teams will meet each other in competition. While I’m excited to see our athletes give it their all against each other, it stinks as well. Instead of cheering for one team at a time, I will likely find myself not cheering at all. I always want our local ki...
And I used to think summer break went fast, when I was a kid. When I was younger, back to school was a bittersweet feeling. Things I loved about going back to school included seeing old friends and making new ones. Seeing new classrooms and teachers was an exciting thing, especially in high school because often times I would have several new teachers. I loved P.E. because I didn’t participate in summer sports. I had a love hate relationship with English Literature because I hated reading, but lo...
Sunday marked an important day of the year for many of us sports fans who see light for their beloved football team. The NFL Hall of Fame Game; The first televised preseason game of the year. A subpar year for the Chicago Bulls, a poor season for the White Sox and awesome Stanley Cup Win for the Chicago Blackhawks gave me mixed emotions this past year. There’s no greater feeling than when your home team dominates a sport. The Blackhawks have done just that. After winning the Stanley Cup for the...
If you were fortunate to make your way to the free stage at times throughout the fair you would have seen some pretty astounding talent. One act that was rather impressive and at times suspenseful and other times hilarious was that of Mike and Mitchell of Saskatoon Canada, who go by the name of "Double Vision." I was enjoying the show with my wife Susan and son P.J. when the unthinkable happened. Crowd participation. Typically if you see a guy with a camera, you leave that guy alone because...
Sometimes it’s hard to get the brain going, As I sit at my chair after the paper is all done there are some weeks that I struggle to come up with things to write about for the next week. I decided that I would go back to a trick I used over a year ago. I looked up an unknown holiday. This is what I found. Apparently today is the holiday of two of my favorite foods. It is National Chicken Wing Day and Lasagna Day. Chicken Wings have a dear place in my heart and my soul. It was just over three y...
There are two types of people in this world. The first is a person who sat at home and watched the Major League Baseball All-Star Game last Tuesday, July 14 and the second type is an everyday Joe or Jane that played softball with the Malta Co-Ed Softball League. Then I guess there was a third type of person that did neither. Anyways, after taking off in my car to shoot a few pictures of the softball players, I arrived at Trafton Park with a camera, recorder and glove in my hand, thinking, “If t...
After a long hard bought with Amoxicillin, I had a good week. After feeling super miserable for a week, I found joy in the little things life brings. My first simple thing was my yard. Because of my inability to mow the lawn, the grass has gotten taller, which is great for these hot summer days. Everything is greening up and with less water! My other victory came last week when Julio Salveson helped me remove a woodworking bench from my shop area. Many older guys are probably thinking why in...
I rarely get sick. I am allergic to nearly everything, but I rarely get sick. Last week I found out that I was sick after thinking I had a simple ear infection. I went to see the good doctor and found out that, apparently, I have a bacterial infection called “pharyngitis.” Yikes! The worst part of all this was that I am currently on antibiotics. I have never had a high tolerance for medication. One smell of NyQuil can knock me out cold. This amoxicillin stuff is no joke. This antibiotic has giv...
I just heard that there was a time where Malta was crop dusted with mosquito killer. And it worked. I’m sure there are a plethora of reasons why the town isn’t crop dusted anymore, but if that time comes again, I will literally stand outside and inhale anything that kills these little biters. Around this time last year, I went on a rant about mosquitoes and I hope it encouraged just one per-son to be vigilant and nuke their own yard with mosquito killer. This season as clouds of mosquitoes ter...
This past year has had more tears, more laughter, more scares, more diapers and more no’s than I can remember in my lifetime. That’s because a year ago last Thursday my baby boy PJ was born. I remember walking around the town of Glasgow waiting for him to drop lower, only to find out that our baby boy had tied his knot into a true knot and was unable to drop. He was a very active fetus. An Australian friend of mine used to always tell me, “Peezy, you’re like a fart in a bottle!” Which I guess i...
Growing up I watched my quota of “professional” wrestling. I was a fan of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Hulk Hogan and other entertainers. There was a point where it dawned on me that the “sport” wasn’t as real as advertised. Years later in college a few buddies of mine introduced me to the world of Mixed Martial Arts and UFC. I loved it. There was something neat about fighters training their hardest and giving it all in a cage match. Many people see the sport and think it is barbaric. I ca...
Being at the 2015 Whitewater High School Graduation nearly made me a little emotional. I remember the first week of 2013 sitting down at my desk and typing my very first story. That story featured many of the kids that were graduating last Friday evening. I not only remember that first story because it was my first story, but I remember it because my first thoughts were these girls are good. I also remember that there were a ton of kids with K names... Keira, Kourtney, Kaycee, Kayla, and Kianna...
