Home » Archives by category » Columns (Page 66)

Dixie Cups

If you are 50 or older, you probably remember coming out of the store or school cafeteria with a 5 or 10 cent Dixie Cup in one hand and a flat wooden spoon in the other. You pulled the tab, and the cardboard lid slowly lifted from the cup, revealing chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ice […]

Skin Care for Winter

Skin Care for Winter

Hello, My Darlings. With all of the ups and downs that the weather has taken lately, is it any wonder that our skin may be a little less than perfect right now. Though I always use sunscreen and moisturizer, even in the cool months, sometimes it just isn’t enough. If you, like me, are finding […]

Creative Thinking Skills

Creative Thinking Skills

A child’s creative development begins at birth and continues into childhood.  All children develop creative-thinking skills.  Scribbles with crayons, collages, and blocks, helps develop ideas about the world and enables the child to think creatively.  A child is then able to expresses ideas and feelings visually through art forms.  As parents and caregivers, we must […]

Getting Involved

My daughter and granddaughter are coming to live with me for awhile and she will be starting high school next year. I am looking for something to get her involved in over the summer so she will know some people going into the new school year. I am hoping that some familiar faces might ease […]

Antique, Collectible or Vintage?

Antique, Collectible or Vintage?

Did last week’s Spring weather send you to the attic or basement to de-clutter? Did you find a thingamajig and wonder: What is It? Can I sell it? Where? These days we hear and see the terms antique, collectible, and vintage bandied about on popular TV shows, the web, and in casual conversation. Did you […]

Desensitized Squatch

Desensitized Squatch

This week I was thinking about the meteor that exploded over Russia, and I was reminded of a YouTube video I watched showing it zoom toward Earth.  The video was from a Russian police car and you could hear the radio playing in the background.  It wasn’t a police radio, oh no.  It was 80s […]

Training, Education, Breathing

Training, Education, Breathing

When I was a young teacher, already in the classroom but also enrolled in some grad courses at the College of Charleston, I began to wrestle with the distinction between “education” and “training”. At first these two words seemed interchangeable, but as I struggled to understand them on a deeper level, it became apparent that […]

Responsibility

Responsibility

Responsibility is a tricky thing to learn. It’s even trickier to teach! Most educators will underscore the need for their students to learn responsibility regardless of the grade level or subject. Although it’s rarely seen in curriculum benchmarks, this goal (a combination of self-reliance and maturity) is woven into the fabric of schools from coast […]

Coin Collecting

My son is turning six and I would like to help him start a coin collection. I have never really collected coins but I think that it would interest him and I know that they increase in value. Do you have any suggestions for us as to the best way to begin? Collecting is a […]

Stolen Goods

Stolen Goods

Movies and television shows like USA Network’s White Collar make stealing art and artifacts look glamorous and somewhat safe. Forger and art thief extraordinaire Neal Caffrey (played by Matt Bomer) is a charming FBI confidential informant full of knowledge about art, chemistry, and deception. Somehow he manages to help his handler Agent Burke while working […]

The Ole Coon Hunter

This week I was reminded of a once colorful, local character, named Cas Walker.  I had not thought about him for years. I wonder how many of my readers know of, or remember the once household name.  He was one of the most flamboyant politicians in Knoxville, as well as a major force in promoting […]

Trusted Hairdresser… Priceless!

Trusted Hairdresser… Priceless!

Hello Darlings, bad hair days can turn the sunniest personality into a crisis of despair, especially the color turning orange or green and being shorn like a sheep, when only an inch was to be trimmed. One of the most valuable assets in a woman’s life is her favorite hairdresser. Nearly all women have had […]

Better Than A Coupon

Better Than A Coupon

Is it possible to leave a 24 hour one-shop-stop department store with low self-esteem?  I’m thinking it’s, at the very least, highly unlikely.  You certainly could leave there feeling like you need a shower, but your self image will still be solid.  I could easily envision a circumstance where you left feeling the need to […]

Victor Stenger’s: In God: The Failed Hypothesis

Victor Stenger’s: In God: The Failed Hypothesis

I am reviewing a book that has caused a fair bit of controversy, and an exceptional amount of discussion between atheists, philosophers, and theologians. In God: The Failed Hypothesis, Victor Stenger argues that there is no evidence to support the existence of a deity, and that the existence of such a being, while not impossible, […]

Shoes, Red Hot News Flash !

Shoes, Red Hot News Flash !

Hello, my darlings, such a fashion change this coming spring and summer!!! Our shoes are to be out of fashion, you know the platform heels that took so much practice just to walk a short distance, desperately trying not to wobble or fall. .  Remember the cat walk models even falling down in front of […]

Late Winter Sort

Late Winter Sort

I don’t know about you, but I have been looking forward to spring ever since Groundhog Day. Punxsutawny Phil did not see his shadow, which means that spring should arrive about a month or so from now . . . if only Phil’s prediction was a sure thing. Spring weather means an uptick in outdoor […]