Prior to our financial meltdown, my wife and I simply never sat down and talked about our finances. Right after our meltdown, we talked about things almost every day.

Library books: I know how to pick 'em!

Times like these (as in “so-so”) make me glad to live here. Although the recent economic downturn (no one is using the R-word yet) has business and industry in many parts of the nation pulling on the emergency brake, the Augusta-Aiken metro area has simply eased off on the gas pedal.

Anyone can do a trick pool shot on one table. But four tables? And with hundreds of dominoes?

Eight former Augusta minor league ball players earned a spot on the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star ballot.

See The Augusta Chronicle's best photos from the 2008 Masters Tournament, set to music by local artists.

If the MLS was this cool, the rest of professional sports might have something to worry about...

The fact of the matter is that women date jerks, a lot. It falls under my 99% rule. There are only two things in life that are 100% certain but there are many things that are 90 to 99%. Cats chase mice. Dogs case cats, NBA players date white women. And women date, sleep with and/or marry jerks. I didn’t make those rules I just observe them.

What's on your required reading list?

When you pick up Monday's Augusta Chronicle it will look a little different. We also think it will be easier to use.

After 31 grueling weeks, the Caption Contest needs a vacation. And a Swedish massage. Meanwhile, the Augusta.com staff is readying some new brain games for readers' amusement. Watch for them in February.

Chronicle photograph captures beauty of nature

Finally--Peace on Earth?

The man who held James Brown’s cape and ran his errands for 46 years faces eviction from his home in Augusta six days before Christmas.

A duck call is duct taped to a car's blow off valve.  I was greatly amused.

The Masters Ala ESPN? Oh, no! I leave for a couple of months and this happens!

Forgiveness can be tough. Especially when you shove your morals and ethics aside and do something thoughtless, careless or just downright selfish.

Everybody loves ice cream. And many of us enjoy a beer or two. Why not combine these two unlikely ingredients into a new drink I call “The Weasel.”

This is a test.

“Dracula sauce!” It disappeared quickly. They didn't think much of the honey mustard, though.

Are you placing your child in danger? If you allow your child (under age 9) to cross the street alone, you are putting your child's life in danger.

People are always trying to tell us what to say and how to think, whatever happened to the 1st Amendment?

BEECH ISLAND -- The James Brown family procession has arrived at Mr. Brown's 62-acre property in rural Aiken County.

J. David Roper has defeated Bill Williams in the race to replace Judge William M. Fleming Jr.

Sprinkle with election seasoning. Caution! Mixed contents will be hot!

Recently i was taking norco

The TV reporter was interviewing a high school girl who said she enjoyed the new writing portion of the revamped SAT more than the math. Her entire answer was one sentence, yet I noticed that it contained "you know" three times and "like" twice. Gee, I wonder why the scores are down?

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd write up a couple tonight.

On the ride from Gainesville to Commerce on Thursday, a cyclist had a flat tire. Not an unusual occurrence. The cyclist pulled off the road to the right to avoid blocking traffic. When asked by one passing rider if he had everything he needed for his repair, the cyclist with the flat said “I think so.” That’s the wrong answer.

I've been thinking for a while now about blogging on the topic of people in America not speaking English, and when I saw the two passages that were in today's Rants and Raves section, I figured it was time to stop putting it off.

continued from HearAgain... On the upside you become very observant. You can read moods and expressions from across the room. You intuitively know when something is bothering someone. Body language speaks volumes. You know when your children are doing something they shouldn’t or when they don’t feel well. You can watch your husband walk up the driveway and know whether he’s in a good mood or a bad one. You can see the sad little faces of children whose parents are ignoring them in restaurants. The sparkle in her eyes and the smile on her face speak of a young bride’s love for her new husband as eloquently as her words might. Even the most observant of hearing impaired people though can’t compensate for the lack of sound totally. And just as a blind person can’t really understand the color blue

Well I'm back. Tomorrow I actually head back to work. I can barely tell these days that I've had surgery. I apologize for being so lax the past couple weeks about keeping y'all informed. But there really wasn't anything new to report. It seems all of my internal organs that I have left have finally found a new spot inside after slightly shifting from extra space. My laproscopic scares on my torso are starting to fade away and my incision scar is itchy, so that's a sign that it's healing. I feel like I've gotten most of my energy back even though I feel lazy and out of shape. My four-week restriction of not being able to lift more than 10 pounds will be up Wednesday so I want to resume my yoga classes as soon as possible.

I just returned home from a great evening downtown. I went to the world premier of the homegrown movie 'The Battle of Aiken'? held at the historic Imperial Theater.