Columnists

If you want to laugh, if you want your senses to be drowned in spectacular color and sound, and most all, if you want to feel good, go see “Beauty and the Beast” with or without the kids. This production is more than the telling of the old fairy tale: It is an artistic conception that challenges the imagination and opens doors to ultimate creativity.

Our Siamese kitty, Percy, has a dark spot of hair on the middle

Despite the major commercial emphasis placed on observing

The sun shines 300 days a year. The climate is tropical without the humidity. Descendants of another century were known as "stone-slingers" and cultured black pearls are indigenous to these tropical islands.

I found a gem. There it was in plain sight, a new trail but far enough out of the way that I only recently stumbled upon it.

If you listen to the buzz about the latest technologies, you may think laptops have gone the way of the stegosaurus. But, the truth is, many of us are still using them. This may be a problem from an ergonomics perspective. The big difficulty with laptops (AKA: notebook computers or netbooks) is the keyboard and monitor are attached to one another. This creates an impossible situation. If you place the screen at a comfortable level for viewing, the keyboard and pointing device will be much too high for keying and pointing, and vice-versa. Something's gotta give! And usually it's your neck, back, arms, hands or all of the above.

I was a lucky kid; I grew up in “Small Town America” during the 1950s. And although my Colorado hometown wasn’t “small” by most standards (roughly 100,000 people), it felt that way because we were encapsulated within our close-knit neighborhoods.

Happy New Year! Before I begin this week's column, I advise you to purchase a pork butt roast. They are usually on sale right now for under $2 per pound. Get one, wrap it tight and freeze it. It will be featured in my Mardi Gras article for Pulled Pork Poor Boys.

Well, the days are getting shorter, schools are preparing to start and leaves will soon be changing color and falling off trees. These signs all point to the conclusion that it must almost be … football season.