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Something quite extraordinary happened last night (last Tuesday because technically this article is out on Sunday). Mrs. Hillary R. Clinton has won the state of Pennsylvania by a 10 percent margin, which thank goodness has brought her back into a close competition with Barack Obama....

I was a senior in high school before I had my first barber shop haircut. My dad had been doing a decent job all those years but I thought I had outgrown his talent. It wasn't easy for me to tell him I wanted to go out and get a real haircut, but he handled it. When I went to the barber...

Not long ago -- about 10 days I would imagine -- I finally succumbed to my mother's wishes and received a haircut. And though I generally avoid the idea of people attacking a part of me (even if it is just my hair) with scissors, it had lately occurred to me that my Freak Flag was...

I have been afflicted with another ruthless addiction. Along with caffeine, sleep, show tunes, classical music and penguin hunting, I have now become (yet again) consumed with the mind numbing, mind melting, brain bashing pastime of video games. Unfortunately for me, I have absolutely...

Just the other day, seeing that it was sunny and sensing that my dog was getting restless and in need of exercise, I decided to take a walk. I checked the temperature to determine how many layers I would need to be wearing, decided on two, and flung a light jacket over my T-shirt....

DEAR ABBY: I have been dating a woman in Phoenix - where we both lived - for the past three years. We were in an exclusive relationship, but not living together because I was going through a divorce when we met. Throughout our time together I have helped "Jackie" with rent and cash...

There is a popular medication for folks with asthma. The purpose of the well-advertised prescription is to prevent the two main symptoms of asthma: airway constriction and inflammation. But when you read the small print you are told that possible side effects of the drug include the...

It's 2 a.m. Do you know where your children are? I do not, because, alas I do not have children. Anyway, it is actually 9:30 and I'm sitting at home writing this article anxiously awaiting to leave for our school's choir trip to NYC. Something miraculous has happened. That special...

When this column finally gets published and is in your hands, it will be Easter Sunday. Children will be frantically searching for elusive eggs, parents will be cheerily cooking all manner of Easter fare, and I will be in my church flipping pancakes. Allow me to explain. It's been...

It's finally happened. Something horrific, something terrifying, something disfiguring, something debilitating. Writer's Block! That's right everyone, the time has come where I actually have absolutely nothing to preach about, complain about, or to rant and rave on. I am truly...

Last Monday, I came home from town quite tired, but still mildly cheerful, for I did not yet know that one of my last surviving aquarium fish, an Oscar named "Oscar" (don't ask where I found the name) had left this earth. I ate supper, watched an episode of "The Waltons," changed...

Dear Grandpa, I would like to dedicate this letter to you in order to lament your passing into the house of God. As expected, I will miss you ardently, however, your suffering in this life is over. No longer shall you be bound by the chains of mortality. You will no longer suffer...

It's gloomy, it's cold, the sky is blotted by a thick white sleeting downpour. Yes, it is what you think, it is a winter storm! All adults are thinking "Oh dear lord, now I have to shovel." All the young people are thinking (and praying) "Please, oh please, let school be late .......

Hello Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and surrounding communities. How are you? Como est?s? Que haces? Comon sa va? Wie geht es Ihnen? Any who, something has happened in our school system, as you may have heard, that legitimately upsets me. Some of my friends have been banned from things...

I recently found out that Bobby Fischer, perhaps the greatest chess player the world has ever seen, died this month at the age of 64. Interestingly enough, that is the precise number of squares on a chessboard. He was a very fascinating man with many accomplishments. In honor of...