My mother never liked Halloween. It wasn't the candy or the costumes or even the dirty looks "real" Christians give you whenever you forget to call the Halloween party a "Fall Festival." She always just steered us away from what most people considered to be in the spirit of the holiday - ghouls, witches, ax murderers - and focused on the lighter ... [Read More…]

It's 4 a.m., and somewhere, someone is rocking out to Metallica, Blink 182 or Queen. Unless you've been living under a pile of typewriters and floppy discs for the past few years, you've at least heard about Guitar Hero by now. But how many of us have stopped to think how it's changed the very fabric of our lives? What's that? It hasn't? Au ... [Read More…]

When young children play, they seem lost in their own perfect worlds, where good always triumphs, the prince always saves the princess and Matchbox cars resurface from pileups unscathed. Nothing can disturb this utopia, except perhaps occasional potty breaks or Mom's call for a snack. Kids don't care which country may or may not develop nuclear ... [Read More…]

The Optimist and social clubs have not enjoyed a pleasant relationship in the past, and as editor in chief, I hoped - naively, perhaps - this year would be different. Our staff already has received several complaints from club officers and members regarding Optimist content, so I entreat anyone involved in a social club to hear me out. I do not ... [Read More…]

How crickets make it all the way up to third-floor dorm rooms continues to mystify me. But they do. Consistently. And they always seem to find their way to my room. My freshman year, the crickets infested my Abilene experience from the day I moved in to well into the fall semester. I heard the first floor of Gardner Hall experienced a cricket ... [Read More…]

As a relatively social person, silence is an uncommon occurrence in my life. After class or work, I usually seek the company of friends, rather than choosing to spend a few hours relaxing alone. When I do have time to myself, I feel the compelling need to call someone, turn on music or create any kind of social distraction. I think my dislike of ... [Read More…]

I started reading at the beginning of kindergarten. It was a Sally, Dick and Jane book, and my mom says I pretty much taught myself. Reflecting on those early school days, I remember weekly class trips to the library, mandatory silent reading every day and listening to the teacher read stories while we sat in a circle and looked at the ... [Read More…]

While brushing up on my British Labour Party knowledge - as all of you probably do on a regular basis - I ran across a story in the Guardian about Prime Minister Gordon Brown, specifically about his campaign for re-election. Most of his platform was over my head, but one part stood out to me. Brown plans to crack down on rowdy children by going ... [Read More…]

Monday has a notorious reputation for starting terrible weeks, but last week, my Monday was a Wednesday. The first half of my week progressed fairly normally. On Wednesday afternoon, I was still blissfully unaware of my impending doom. However, by Wednesday evening, it was pretty obvious I just needed to go back to bed and set my alarm for ... [Read More…]