You can’t hide from The Joke Lady. I met Marcie “The Joke Lady” Danyi of Niles by U.S. Postal Service back in 2020, shortly after some annoying virus was making its rounds in the news — and the world. Marcie was 78 back then (“My mind still thinks I’m 25,” she told me. “My ...
My brother Tim told anyone who would listen that he obviously was the best of us four kids. “Perfect,” I believe was the word he used. Tim would look to Mom to confirm that he never caused a lick of worry, concern or trouble like his three siblings. Mom has yet to corroborate that assessment. She just smiled and gave Tim that “mom” look — you know the one: You didn’t get away with as much as you thought you did. Tim passed away a few days ago. He was a few weeks shy of his 64th birthday. And continued to claim that he was the perfect one. He was wrong, of course. It ...
Back in my college days, my roommate, Brent, and I each had what appeared to the uneducated eye to be stacks of random chaos on our desks. “How can you work like that?” the uneducated interlopers demanded in disgust. They usually wrinkled their noses, too, which neither of us understood. ...
Valentine’s Day was easier to navigate 55 or so years ago. We carted shoeboxes to elementary school. Armed with blunt-nosed scissors, stacks of construction paper and Elmer’s glue, we cut out red hearts and purple flowers and pasted them onto our boxes. Well, the girls did hearts and flowers. We boys were more likely to cut out white skulls and black flags as a warning on our boxes: Avast! No boarding with any of that sappy lovey-dovey stuff! We scrawled our names on the backs of little cut-out Mickey Mouse, Scooby-Doo or Bugs Bunny cards. The rule was you had to give a card to ...
It’s Valentine’s Day and you forgot again, didn’t you? She was expecting candy or flowers or a card or at least something. Boy, are you in trouble! Here’s some advice from your ol’ Uncle Burtie — tell her you left it right there on the steps. Of course, you’ll want to actually ...
“Why?” Laura asked. Her oldies — I mean “real music” — station had just played Elton John’s 1983 hit “I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues.” “Why is sadness associated with the color blue? Why not call it the grays if it has to be associated with a color?” Why ...
