August 21, 2017

Short

Intrepid girl reporter Tedi braves a seance to bring you the latest from the late psychic Jeane Dixon.

A wedding provides some reminisces and reflections on the network of friends and family that evolved from a friendship that had started long before the mother of the bride was the bride's age. But the bride was still too young.

Rosalyn suffers from bad dreams. "Night terrors" is the clinic term. But that's okay; Spike, her new puppy, will protect her from the ghosts that torment her every night as she tries to sleep.

Opinion

Oh, sure, the manufacturers tell you they're for your convenience, but by now we all know better. Here's the low down of how it really works.

Making friends on the Internet doesn't have to be scary. Sometimes the best things in life are only a mouse-click away...

Why the best-selling authors of today will be the Charles Dickenses of tomorrow...

Night people stand up and be counted! You have nothing to lose but your alarm clock...

Aging isn't as bad as it's been made out to be. Take a look at the lighter side of being old...

Buying a car? Forewarned is forearmed! A former car salesperson reveals the inside secrets your salesperson would rather you didn't know...

Confessions of a junk-aholic. How much stuff is really too much stuff? And what do you do with it? Reclaiming the garage in the 21st century...or not.

If you're itching to produce the Great American Novel, here's what you need to know...

What do you do when what you've been doing for the past 24 years suddenly goes away? More importantly, what do you hope for?

Some stories never leave you. What are you to think when the truth is stranger than fiction?

Life Without Bacon is No Life at All. If we gave up all our bad habits, what would we do for fun? Pondering an aescetic existence and finding it coming up lacking...

Pondering one of the great mysteries of life while driving on America's highways, our intrepid reporter tackles the phenomenon of the single shoe...

Everyone can benefit from mastering the gentle art of persuasion. Learn how to turn a personal conflict into a win-win situation that leaves everybody happy and smiling.

So, your really think you are honest? Think again.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to a retail outlet, a horror story from an insider. How confident are you that your child can acquit himself in public? Enquiring minds want to know.

The race is on! Who will win? Who will fall to the sidelines in disgrace or defeat? And what will befall us all 28 days from now? Only time will tell...

A letter of loss and hope, from generation to generation.

A young woman achieves her majority in a place she never expected. A place her deceased father knew very well. Is it just a coincidence?

Still smug after all these years... Tom Robbins writes, are we still reading him?

I was taught manners as a child. Some I've disregarded as unnecessary over the years, but some seem as natural to me as breathing. Yet still, it seems that common courtesy is more and more disregarded as time goes by. Am I the last courteous person on earth?

We can teach people how to do linear algebra, how to map the human genome, and how to split atoms. But how many people know how to recognize True Love(tm) when they see it? In honor of Valentine's Day, this humble author offers a clue.

Had your fill of April Fool's jokes? Take a walk on the wild side of real life.

In a bold and spectacular novel-writing debut, author Alice Sebold takes on that most terrifying of subjects, the brutal murder of a child...

It's hard to be cutting edge when you've lost your digital knife sharpener. But when the chips are down, the silicon chips go in. Lost in the modern world, but with 24 hour access to Mapquest.

Going to jail is for other people. Bad people. People with lots of tattoos who eat nails and do drugs. But have you ever wondered what it would be like if an average, well-behaved person like YOU went to jail? Tedi finds out.

Set on the eve of the first Women's Rights Convention, Miriam Grace Monfredo's Seneca Falls mystery series provides tales of murder and intrigue that are both historically accurate and satisfying, cozy "cold weather" reads.

Was the "Pirates of the Caribbean" a perfect tale? Analyze the elements to see what made this story such a success. Nonfiction,

Forty-six years old isn't too old to head to the mall to have a talk with Santa. After all, Mama reeeeally needs a brand new Porsche Carrera. Or a puppy. Or a kitten. Or a grandkid...

Just when you thought it was safe to take your next breath, someone you know is telling you that it isn't. What should you do? Intrepid girl reporter Tedi Trindle takes you on a tour of the "Culture of Fear".

Life is a lot like the journey to the Land of Oz, and when you get right down to it, even Glinda is a little more "witch" than "good".

Yes, you've forgotten Mother's day, but it isn't too late to make this the best Mother's Day she ever had. And you might end up feeling pretty good, yourself.

Having empty nest syndrome isn't all it's cracked up to be. Or is that "cracked down"? Read on, and you be the judge...

If you wear a tin foil hat, be assured that people are going to start asking you questions.

Grocery Shopping, It's Not Just a Chore, It's an Adventure. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the grocery store, our intrepid girl reporter tells you all the reasons why it is better to fast than shop. (Originally appeared 2004-05-29)

Sometimes the most obvious ideas aren't very obvious at all. But a look at history can help us stop repeating the mistakes of the past. Tedi takes a simple approach to the modern issues that ail us all.

News

Why would an historic, 300-year-old church which is home to the remains of some of the most legendary figures in American history allow archeologists, at the behest of a determined group of metaphysicians, dig in their sacred churchyard? The answers lie within the Vault...

Sir Francis Bacon's Keepers of the Seventh Seal believe they will find the secret to peace in the Middle East and preventing Armageddon in the secret Masonic library that lies within... The Vault.

Cover story

Comics

Some folks use a flat rock instead of a cat, but the rock doesn't ask to be let in! With the Amazing Mystical Weather Cat, you have Weather on Demand!

Poem

Poem.

Nonfiction

Plotting: Theme, Climax, Denouement. What makes "The Pirates of the Caribbean" such an excellent story? We continue to break down the elements and analyze just what makes a blockbuster so good.

Intrepid girl reporter Tedi Trindle investigates the signs of aging and reports for her beloved public. It could happen to anyone, will it happen to you? Only time will tell.

Buying the occasional impractical vehicle aside, what midlife is really all about is trying to figure out what you want to do with the future you have left, understand the good and bad things you've done in the past, and reconcile it all into a life well-lived.

The internet is scary enough when there are real people on it, but how bad can it get with Artificial Intelligence? Tedi's considered view on AI and its effect on breathing humans.

If you're feeling depressed, don't listen to Tom Cruise. It won't help, and it might hurt a lot more than you think.