I was in the post office buying stamps and chatting with the guy who knows more people than anyone else in My Home Town, and in return is liked by more people in MHT — Mark Deshaine. In case you didn’t recognize the name, or you’ve never mailed a letter here, Mark is the guy who ...

My family, though mostly undistinguished, are world-class leaders in one realm — worrying. And among the generations of worriers, I’m an all-time standout. It’s nothing I learned or practiced or somehow acquired. Instead, while all other babies are born crying, I hit the light of day ...

We all like to think of ourselves (though not necessarily of others) as rational creatures. You know the drill: All the other animals are our intellectual inferiors, be we — good ole evolved We — are, to mix the metaphors, either the bee’s knees or the cat’s pajamas. Of course, ...

It’s Tuesday morning, at the ungodly hour of 10:45. Instead of chillin’ in my Lay-Z-Boy, sippin’ my my java, as befits a man of leisure like me, I’m plotzed in the waiting room of The Kaiser of Cardiology hisself, Terrible Tony Tramontano. People complain constantly about having to ...

About two months ago, Barb Heller asked me to do a gig in a variety show at the Edwards Opera House. The opera house is a beautifully restored 19th century building, a performer’s dream-come-true. It was my vision of heaven, except — best of all — to get there, I wouldn’t have to ...

There was a hit song in the ‘50s called “Mutual Admiration Society.” I can’t remember what year it was popular or who sang it. Matter of fact, the only thing I remember is its title, which is because it describes perfectly one of my favorite — and rarest — kind of ...