On our family tree workaholics are everywhere. Some of us have it worse than others. Some grow out of it or sometimes (by default) we grow into it like a case of adult asthma; but we all have it to some degree on mom's side of the family. And it's as hard to shake as a cold sore you contracted at a Motley Crue concert. In the last sentence I purposefully used the word "contracted" instead of caught. Contraction is something you get by a lack of due diligence on your own part

Certain phenomenon has existed nearly forever, but as a man sometimes it takes a while for me to catch on. I often ask myself why it is...

Dad and I had three memorable things we did often together in my youth. #1) we would stop at a little quick shop in my hometown called " Toot N Tell." It was called that because you drove up, tooted your horn, and you would tell them what you wanted. The brown paper bag we would take home would usually consist of a pack of Camels and about fifty pieces of bubble gum. The old man liked to see how many pieces of gum I could fit in my mouth at one time which (BTW) was a blast fo

Back in the day, anytime I started to throw a big-name box store under the bus the editor for the newspaper I was writing for would get as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. In those instances, I would try to pull off a little hat trick like they did in the movie Coming to America when they would tongue in cheek compare McDonalds to McDowells. My editor who (God rest her soul) is gone now, knew much more about corporate law than I did so I couldn'

Do you think it makes a person morbidly curious if they often examine death? I'm not talking about watching YouTube videos about how to prepare a dead body for the grave, I'm talking the how's and whys of the way we exist in this life and how we remain human within it. I am a Christian, I believe in the father, his son Jesus Christ, and their grand plan for our souls. The place it slides off in the ditch for me is how one minute we are here, flesh and blood, a breathing soul

When was the last time you were giddy. I remember feeling that sensation at age five right outside the grocery store when mom gave me a hand full of quarters and told me I could ride the mechanical horse. This past Monday I saw people giddily staring up at the sky attempting to catch a glimpse of the 2024 installment of the solar eclipse. All of a sudden everyone wanted to borrow my welding hood. I advised them (all of them) that they were going to need a number fourteen filt

Have you ever heard the saying "an ounce of pretention is worth a pound of manure?" Not only is it humorous, but it is also true. You...

Last week I read a headline in the Tulsa World that stated that Chinese dictator Xi Jinping stated he would (and I quote) " like to see Chinese role models for young men be more manly and less limp wristed" end quote. I never pictured myself agreeing with a foreign dictator, yet here we are. Gender bending as I see it is a thing right now, because let's be honest it's cool and in style. After this madness falls out of favor it will be something else. It has become a way to ge

Tommy Lee Jones who to me will always be Woodro F Call from the movie Lonesome Dove has been quoted saying this about Texas: " The thing that gets under your skin and truly makes you a Texan is not in the wind; it's in the dirt." Texans and Okies often think alike, that is until it comes time for the Red River shootout. However, in Oklahoma it IS the wind, possibly because there is so much of it. People here in Northeastern Oklahoma once they find out I am from the western

Men who exude assuredness about who they are seem more attractive to women. But those that feel their lives are a work in progress are dang near irresistible. In going over these human attributes I have figured out why so many ladies are attracted to the many and varied roles of Kevin Costner. I am uncertain if even he realizes it, but this is a theme that runs through all of his movies. Chances are, he does, he seems pretty self-aware of what he projects onscreen. From the n

I have always loved to read, but I'll be honest, five minutes in I'm usually fast asleep. The process relaxes me to the point where I...

Consider for a moment the problems a simple shopping cart creates, I'm mean besides most of them needing a front-end alignment or having a mop string stuck in a wheel. The shopping cart is likely in the top five inventions in the world. I would dole them out in this order, man-made flight, the creation of the internal combustion engine, Scotch Tape, the shopping cart, and Sunday morning breakfast in bed with your loved one and a newspaper. You might notice that I didn't list

I have always been a large man. I am 6' 3" and somewhere around 250 to 275 depending on the time of year and the number of donuts I am allotting myself. In addition, at age twelve I was roughly the same size I am now, which could be frightening when put in the wrong hands. Although, in my case it's not, I am a huge but harmless little fuzzball in every manner of the word. This is to say that I have never given a second thought about holding my own in a fight when I had to. Bu

As we travel through time we are blessed with one convenience after another. However, the word blessed can be a double-edged sword. We...

Gentleman, we have all heard our wives use the term "ugly cry." It's not the first time nor will it be the last time a woman will use an...

We would all like to deny it, but it seems death is a growth industry. That's sounds like a contradiction in terms because, (let's be...

Yesterday I was taking a load of junk to the dump, but on the way, I stopped off at the ever-evil Mc Donalds . Advertising that came to...

I think it was Jeff Foxworthy that once said, " you don't have to be from the south to be a redneck... but it helps." Which brings to mind the question of the day, are rednecks just bred that way or are we born into that crown it like the king of England. While they take part in 2PM teatime with their pinky's extended, we are left to lay in the red mud with our overalls on, changing our U-joints. Many people who live south of the Mason-Dixon line have never considered the way

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. Like everything else in this touchy, feely new world it begins and ends with acronyms, like LOL. For those of us that over the age of fifty that stands for laugh out loud. I'd like to propose a new acronym for us in the Gen-X generation I'd call (WCWS) or Who Cares Whipper Snapper! I am 57 years old and the only reason I know what LOL stands for is because I have a child who is under the age of 30. By the way, before I for

Have you ever noticed that when it comes to advice dad's and grandpas often develop a reputation of spreading around what we Okies refer as bull? Often that reputation is well earned. Some claim you cannot be injured by flying bull but that's up for debate. Grandpa once told me, " Young man, it's not how deep you fish, it's how you wiggle your worm." Now, in my defense, we WERE fishing at the time, and I was only SIX years old. Most of the advice the old man gave me for life