RING! RING! RING! “Hello. Dick Yarbrough speaking. How may I direct your call?” “Dick, it’s me. Artie.” “I’m sorry. Artie who?” “Artie Fishel, you hare-brained humanoid. Artie Fishel, of Artie Fishel Intelligence. You surely remember me. I am capable of performing tasks that typically require human cognition, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and … [Read more...] about June 7, 2026: Trying To Deal With Artie Fishel Intelligence
May 31, 2026: A Reminder of The Privilege and Responsibility for These Words
As if this job isn’t hard enough already trying to get nouns and verbs to agree (Nouns and verbs can be very disagreeable. Trust me on that), I have learned that this column is a subject for regular dissection by a group of discerning ladies in Dalton. Uh. Oh. Ann Viamonte wrote to tell me that an assemblage convenes weekly at the Oakwood Restaurant in town which includes a … [Read more...] about May 31, 2026: A Reminder of The Privilege and Responsibility for These Words
May 24, 2026: The Elections Aren’t Over Until They Are Over
The good news is that the primary elections are over. The bad news is the primary elections are not over. We now have the runoffs. Then it will all be over. Except it won’t all be over. The general election is November 3. The runoffs mean another month of self-serving ads promising us (inhale) lower taxes, reduced crime, shrinking the size of government, creating jobs, … [Read more...] about May 24, 2026: The Elections Aren’t Over Until They Are Over
May 17, 2026: What Would Life Be Without A Junk Drawer?
I’m not sure how anyone could exist without a junk drawer. No household that calls itself a household is without one. It may be in the kitchen or the living room or the den or perhaps the garage. Maybe even the bedroom. But it is there. And it is essential to life as we know it. To be a truly authentic junk drawer, it must contain things too valuable to throw away because … [Read more...] about May 17, 2026: What Would Life Be Without A Junk Drawer?
May 10, 2026: We Don’t Need A Law To Keep On Talking Southern, Y’all
I’m a little late getting around to this but there is a survey out by a group called Writing Tips Institute, a website that teaches people how to write correctly. (An aside from the editors: Please consider joining and if they will also teach you to put commas where they belong, we’ll kick in with the tuition.) According to the survey, 51% of Georgians would like our … [Read more...] about May 10, 2026: We Don’t Need A Law To Keep On Talking Southern, Y’all