It was on this date 30 years ago that I made my first appearance on television in Birmingham, Alabama.

It would be a challenge for the network and cable news outlets to fit this in amidst all the coverage of celebrity deaths this past week, but I though you would want to know that Sgt. Ricky D. Jones of Plantersville, Ala. died last Sunday.

There were only two barbershops in Clay City when I was a boy. Two were plenty.

I’ve spoken at graduation ceremonies before and will speak at two this year. In 2009, what do you tell a bunch of graduating seniors? If you were in my shoes, what would you say, what would be the hook or key element of your talk to these young people?

Charlie the Caterpillar didn’t know he was ugly until a bunch of people told him he was.

I just found out this week that one of my all-time favorite people is going to receive a wonderful honor that he richly deserves.

My 11-year-old is very cute and he knows it. In fact, he has become a master of using his cuteness to get in good with us when he needs to and using some to get out of trouble.  But, he’s still cute and is going to ride cuteness as long as it serves his needs.

30 minutes out of jury deliberations with 11 other citizens made me look at a garden hose in a different way.  Reasonable expectations—I learned about those this week.

I’m told that children under the age of 5 laugh about 300 times a day. As we get old we laugh less, which is sad isn’t it?  Most adults, on average, laugh about 10 times a day, and that’s on a good day.

My dog Jessie is a good dog. When I pull in the driveway, my wife says, “Dad’s home,“ and Jessie comes running to the door and as soon as I open the door she’s all over me wanting me to pet her and let her lick me.

I’ve been reminded recently of the best medicine I know of to deal with day-to-day stress and the onslaught of bad news. The market can fall like a rock, but my friends will be my friends.

Grandma Royer’s birthday is coming up soon. I have a picture of her here on my desk at home and her smile always brings back great memories of her; from time to time the picture reminds me of one of my favorite Grandma Royer stories.

As you get older, and figure you know just about everything, you get a little excited when given the opportunity to learn a brand-new thing. That happened this week when Kristen, the very talented person who heads up our Web site at work, sent us all an e-mail telling us that there is a great new opportunity for us to communicate with folks through a new online thing called Twitter.

2009 is going to be a great year, I just know it. I’m not too big on New Year’s resolutions, but I’ve sort of made one for myself and I’ll see how long I can stick to it.

Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi gave the world a look at the ugly side of freedom when President Bush visited the Green Zone in Baghdad this week. Freedom allows dissent and allows for protest, even loud and ugly protest. And, while there are consequences for throwing shoes at the President of the United States, freedom fosters such behavior too. 

One of my favorite columns by Lewis Grizzard was about Waffle House. I thought of him this weekend when my boys and I bellied up to counter at the Waffle House closest to us. Much of what Lewis wrote came back to me during our breakfast. I intentionally didn’t go back and look at this column, but I will. 

I wouldn’t call it writer’s block but rather writer’s funk.  I’ve not been able to finish more than a paragraph or two in this space since late October. It’s not like homework; I’m not assigned a certain number of blogs to post, but I’m pretty faithful and putting my thoughts down once a week or so.  But lately, the words just won’t come and when they do, they’re not pleasant or inspiring.

I like to think I’m pretty open-minded. I also like to think there’s a Santa Claus and an Easter Bunny and that life is fair. But, here’s what I don’t understand: Our nation’s presidential election is one week away and every day I continue to see polls that say what undecided voters are going to do.

You might think it odd for a bunch of people to sing Happy Birthday at a graveside service, but we did just that today.

Thank goodness our elected congressmen and senators know an emergency when they see one. Our Senators, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, along with Congressman Robert Aderholt voted against the $700 billion bailout last week. The rest of the Alabama delegation in the House of Representatives voted yes.

My oldest friend Emil Lang isn’t doing very well tonight and he’s heavy on my mind. If you’re the type person that starts or ends the day saying a prayer, I’d sure appreciate you adding Emil to your list of people to pray for.

It’s a song we used to sing at the Good Hope Baptist Church in Clay City. It went something like, “I’ve got a mansion, just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we’re never grow old.” 

I’m sort of sorry I was out of town because I missed the funeral of my friend Cousin Cliff.

Do we really need television reporters or anchors or meteorologists standing in the wind and driving rain as a hurricane approaches landfall?

All of Emil Lang’s friends, and there are many of us, are looking forward to October and his birthday. Our friend will turn 106. 

I’ve worked in television for 33 years, 29 of them here in Birmingham. It’s always been generally fun.

Sometimes there are absolute rules on word pronunciation…....sometimes the majority rules.

Tony Snow died last Saturday. I didn’t know him, but feel I did.

I spend the day Wednesday with 35 veterans of that last world war, and spending the day with them was my honor.

Lessons in praying, 45 years apart.