Must Read: Columns

SPCA Pet of the Week: Chanel Is Ready for the Soft Life

Chanel has reached an age where she knows the value of a comfortable bed and a little peace and quiet. Frankly, relatable. This 8-year-old Terrier mix weighs 40 pounds and comes with one extremely persuasive smile. Those little white feet look suspiciously like she showed up wearing socks. But Chanel’s most expressive feature may be at the other end. Her […]

The Beaten Path of Least Resistance

Have you ever wondered how much of life is taken up with basic routines?  Some of them change around the margins over the years for a variety of reasons, and some remain the same.  For example, how we put ourselves together with hair, makeup, and clothes may change, but does the process of brushing one’s teeth ever alter even a […]

SPCA Pet of the Week: George Is 56 Pounds of Goofy, Gentle Charm

George has the face of a dog who has absolutely done something ridiculous and would like you to know he has no regrets. At 3 years and 4 months old, this 56-pound mixed-breed gentleman is equal parts sweet, goofy and affectionate. He has a white-blonde coat, dark soulful eyes and the kind of expressive face that does most of the […]

Louisiana On My Mind

During the years I was in school there, the governor of Louisiana was one Edwin Edwards, who rivalled any politician of his day in both color and flamboyance.  He served four non-consecutive terms in that office, basically two years in the governor’s mansion for every one year he was later in federal prison.   Edwards had more than his pretty boy […]

Feeling Good?

Back in the ‘60s and into the early ‘70s, Hollywood had a mad affair with punctuated movie titles.  There were the musicals with exclamation points—Hello, Dolly!, Oliver!, and Star!—although many would say the movies themselves didn’t exactly live up to their title.  Then there were the question mark movies, which usually featured an older actress whose career as well as […]

SPCA Pet of the Week: Joel Is 33 Pounds Of Pure Good Mood

Some dogs have a talent for making people laugh. Joel has turned it into an art form. This two-year-old mixed breed is 33 pounds of charm, curiosity and nonstop tail wags. With his black-and-white coat, pointy ears and one perfectly placed black patch over his eye, Joel looks like he showed up wearing his own signature look. Add in his […]

Summertime & Some Other Time

It was clear to me before I confirmed it on the handy-dandy internet that whoever wrote the line “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy” never lived in Texas.  Sure enough, DeBose Heyward was born and lived much of his life in Charleston, South Carolina.  I’ve been to Charleston in the summertime, and the livin’ aIn’t easy there that time of […]

Darwin Is About to Surprise You

He might not rush over the moment you walk in. He might hang back just a little, those dark soulful eyes watching you carefully, those pointed ears tuned in, that beautiful light tan coat with its crisp white accents making Darwin look like the most handsome, most thoughtful dog in the room. And that is exactly what he is. Meet […]

Getting Fit

Vocabulary is a rather beautiful thing.  I don’t mean a collection of words but the actual polysyllabic word.  Polysyllabic itself is a rather beautiful thing in much the same way.  English is full of words like these.  From A to Z, our language gives us everything from archaeological and anthropological on over to zoological and zoographical. There are more of […]

That Little Smile

Most everyone has a favorite Christmas movie, and I am no exception.  But Home Alone and Elf do not do it for me.  For decades, we usher in the season with something less traditional but certainly full of more biting wit. The Lion in Winter is, at its heart, just another movie about the children coming home for Christmas, along with the next-door neighbor attending as well with his half-sister.  Except in this case, Daddy is Henry II of England, Mother […]