Essays


ESSAY- After Robertson: God and man in Haiti Published on Jan 28th, 2010 0 comments Rising like a headland of hope out of a sea of heartbreak, one of the most touching scenes out of Haiti on the Sunday after the earthquake was a religious ceremony held in a makeshift church in the...
ESSAY- American Made: Why Haiti's earthquake started here Published on Jan 21st, 2010 4 comments As grim accounts of the earthquake in Haiti began arriving, the accounts in U.S.-controlled state media all carried the same descriptive sentence: "Haiti is the poorest country in the Western...
ESSAY- New normal: Know your wants from your needs Published on Jan 14th, 2010 0 comments Your portfolio looks wilted. Your home's value is seeping through the basement floor. Perhaps your income has been battered, too. All together, your personal wealth, thanks to a few economic...
ESSAY- Pooch policy: Raising 'fetch' to a new level Published on Jan 7th, 2010 1 comments Picture this: a dog that can flip your lights on and off, bring you the cordless, and fetch that bag of Cheez Doodles that is way too far away in the kitchen. While you were at your holiday parties...
Last night Virginia? Don't let this New Year's tradition end Published on Dec 24th, 2009 0 comments Author Carroll Trainum now has 28 First Night buttons.PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER Say it ain't so. Organizers are suggesting that the economic downfall may mean that the 28th annual First Night...
ESSAY- Real clunker: How we should have treated old cars Published on Dec 17th, 2009 0 comments With the announcement last week that the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration was delaying the forced crushing or shredding of 690,000 Cash for Clunkers trade-ins from this summer,...
ESSAY- Tiger abuse? Double-standard pervades Woods discussion Published on Dec 10th, 2009 0 comments As the news of golf superstar Tiger Woods' alleged multiple affairs spills all over the media, a fascinating– and disturbing– subplot to the story has become a revealing litmus test of...
Boojum! The novel (and author) that time forgot Published on Dec 3rd, 2009 0 comments Henry Fonda played Wertenbaker on Broadway in 1962.PLAYBILL Charles Wertenbaker is the forgotten man of twentieth-century American literature. He chronicled D-Day with Robert Capa,...
ESSAY- Small portions: The meaning of the ping pong ball scoop Published on Nov 26th, 2009 0 comments What the hell? I looked down at my serving of apple pie à la mode and thought I'd been punk'd. Where was the TV camera? Ashton Kutcher had to be lurking around, somewhere. The menu said it was...
ESSAY- Sayonara, ABC: McDonnell's getting Virginia off the sauce Published on Nov 19th, 2009 0 comments Ask an immigrant to tell you about her first impressions of America– especially someone who hails from a communist or socialist state– and eventually she'll get to the part about the...
ESSAY- Mutual respect? Iran gets but never gives Published on Nov 12th, 2009 0 comments While the focus last week was on the failure of President Obama's campaigning to help Democratic candidates in Virginia and New Jersey, a much more important presidential issue was taking place on...
ESSAY- Locally shot: The Zen horror movie that works Published on Nov 5th, 2009 0 comments Lora Lee Jones (not shown) and Lara Blake and Ashley Florence (quite shown here) star in Mantra, a film written and directed by Brian Wimer and available on DVD through mantramoviesite.com.Photo by...
ESSAY- God and prayer: Tough on us... and on egos Published on Oct 29th, 2009 0 comments Gordon Livingston's October 8 essay "Divine design: Survivors right to question unanswered prayers" (The Hook 10/08/09 -10/14/09) verbalizes an almost universal concern, "unanswered prayer." He...
ESSAY- Localvore's dilemma: How I learned about shooting food Published on Oct 22nd, 2009 0 comments "I'm sorry, honey," I said, extracting a toy rifle from the small hands of the visiting 8-year-old boy, "but we don't allow guns at our house, not even toy ones." I then walked the twenty feet from...
ESSAY- Toas-Tite: Snug as a bug at grandpa's farm Published on Oct 15th, 2009 1 comments When my grandfather passed away, I told my mother I wanted just one treasure from my grandparents' estate: the Toas-Tite sandwich maker. I'm sure I was the only grandchild to make this request, and...
ESSAY- Divine design: Survivors right to question unanswered prayers Published on Oct 8th, 2009 0 comments In a society in which at least 9 of 10 people identify themselves as believers in a Supreme Being, it is natural for people to pray for what they want and identify good outcomes as God's...
ESSAY- On Amtrak: You can't get there from here... Published on Oct 1st, 2009 8 comments Nearly everything about my recent vacation in Florida was perfect: the beaches, wildlife, sunsets, you name it. My only disappointment? The way I got there. I took a plane, as anyone who lives 1,500...
ESSAY- September slump: The empty nester's lament Published on Sep 24th, 2009 0 comments You are a slacker, a dropout – you're the loser sneaking a cigarette behind the gym while the good kids are in algebra class. You are aimless and useless and worthless. Or is it just me?...
ESSAY- How-to: We can stop ruining the Bay Published on Sep 24th, 2009 0 comments Warm weather gets me jazzed about being outside– near the water, on the water, and eating anything that comes from the water. I'll drive four hours round trip just to get three hours on the...
ESSAY- September slump: The empty nester's lament Published on Sep 17th, 2009 0 comments You are a slacker, a dropout – you're the loser sneaking a cigarette behind the gym while the good kids are in algebra class. You are aimless and useless and worthless. Or is it just me...
ESSAY- The Nazis: We have met them, and they are us Published on Sep 10th, 2009 11 comments Nazis. Americans are Nazis. We are Nazis. Godwin's Law, the theory that any policy discussion devolves into accusations that someone's a Nazi, be damned. It's impossible to read the newly-released...
ESSAY- Going postal: My dad the collector and criminal Published on Sep 3rd, 2009 0 comments When I was a boy, before girls got interesting and video games got good and the Internet became my main source of information, I collected stamps. There was much about collecting that I loved. The...
ESSAY- Worse than Jaws: Why it's not safe to go in the water Published on Aug 27th, 2009 0 comments Dr. Mark Rennaker has surfed San Francisco's Ocean Beach for three decades and suffered from repeated sinus, lung, eye and ear infections. As a general practitioner, he has offered frequent...
ESSAY- All a Gog: The real reason we invaded Iraq Published on Aug 20th, 2009 0 comments Incredibly, President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog, the Bible's satanic agents of the Apocalypse. Honest. This...
ESSAY- I spy: Why I gave up my American freedoms Published on Aug 13th, 2009 0 comments Better than a potty-cam, right?flickr.com/stillframe/ Oh, no– another one, gone over to the dark side." That's what my friend, Hank, said recently as I flaunted my new, high-tech toy. Hank's...
ESSAY- Death sentences: How early obits change change history Published on Jul 30th, 2009 0 comments The "late" Abe Vigoda Though not meriting inclusion in Webster's, there's a word for a death announcement that publicly kills off celebrities before their time: Vigodaed. The verb derives from a...
ESSAY- New mission: No child left inside Published on Jul 30th, 2009 0 comments When I was a kid, about all I ever did inside was sleep, eat, and torment my grade school teachers. Every other waking moment was spent outside– not just fishing, hunting, and camping, but...
ESSAY- Two if by sea: When you're an interested surf-gazer Published on Jul 9th, 2009 0 comments The merger of dolphin and shark at the Outer Banks last summer made for an unsavory view.FILE PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER Uh oh. I spot a triangular fin about 50 feet off shore. Shark, or dolphin?...
ESSAY- A grief observed: Remembering Carol Published on Jul 9th, 2009 0 comments The author and his wife, Carol.FILE PHOTO "I will turn to her as often as possible in gladness. I will even salute her with a laugh. The less I mourn her the nearer I seem to her. Admirable...
ESSAY- Frugal or cheap: How to tell which is which Published on Jul 2nd, 2009 1 comments Today's sagging economy has us all thinking frugality. And frugality is a good thing. Cheapness, however, is not. To know the difference, let's start with a look at Hetty Green. Her contemporaries...