Bizarro Spectral Erosa

One of the only people in black was wearing a black T-shirt and looked an awful lot like our friend Paul who we met at Augusta's Goth night, Spectral Erosa. He had the same shoulder-length hair and pleasant face. He was even built very much like our Paul and spent the evening fooling with his camera and taking photos of his friends, a very Paul thing to do.

Real Simple

Good old-fashioned simple fun is the key to what works around here.

What Is This Book Telling Me?

A foreboding coincidence...

Remembering Mayor DeVaney

Share your memories and thoughts on the life and accomplishments of former mayor Charles DeVaney.

66 pets + 1 mobile home + 2 human inhabitants = ?

66 "Pets" in a mobile home...criminal or mentally unstable?

Bucharest in the Morning

There is the old man with the cheerful Irish setter. They walk together a lot, the dog trotting wide circles around him, careful not to go into the street until the man does. The dog always looks as though he is smiling.

Bucharest at Night

Some nights, it's quiet. Ghostly, even. On some well-lit corners, there are clusters of taxis.

The Great Weather Switch

I have a friend who is very concerned about the fact that I don't have a television. He thinks I should know what is going on in my homeland. I think that is very nice of him. I tell him I read CNN.com to make him feel better.

What would you do with a trebuchet?

Ahh, the life of the idle rich...

Beer and Birth Control in a Handbasket

Imagine that--a woman knowing she needs birth control without being told by a doctor. Maybe Romanian women are simply smarter than American women.

Sunday alcohol sales

mmm ... beer, aw dang it's Sunday!

Sometimes It Is Just a Walk in the Park

That place had cobbled walks, a paddle boat and autumn leaves. The place I found the other day...well, let's just say it didn't.

Lynx crowds slow to gain; ECHL attendance up; Wolves to return

Tonight, the state of our union is ____

What adjective best fits?

Gifts We Offer

Here is where I’d like to offer a lesson I learned that Sunday: never ignore the little voice that tells you to fix the hair of the son who looks like he just rolled out of bed. You will always regret ignoring that voice.

Are You FAT? Are you sure?

"Man!I am FAT!!"

Songs of Experience

Almost Famous

All In The Family

Ride On The Peace Train Of Thought

The truth is this procedue is not a huge deal, but it's something -- something I have to do that I hadn't planned.

Just Found

Great finds around the house

American Investment in Bucharest

The only thing visible to the naked eye, Michael, is the presence of McDonald's and KFC (Bucharest folks looove their fried chicken), and I'm sure a few other places that I can't get my brain in right now. Coke has a big honking advertisement downtown that is a giant bottle bigger than the Sweetheart Cup that pours Coke from itself...

Haunting the Streets

On the way back to the apartment from the movie last night we saw a young guy up ahead dancing in our direction. Then he danced in the other direction for a few feet and then he came back. Not something you see on the streets every day.

Studio Bar

About half the guys in the Studio Bar have long hair and a beard. Mark has long hair and a beard. Pair that with our perpetual look of discombobulation and it probably seemed pretty obvious to the guy where we belonged.

If you're bad, we're gonna send you to live with your aunt in Alaska!

"Please Daddy, don't ship me to Alaska. I'll be good!"

Nothing says ‘I love you’ like a box of Pooh

I admit it. I like to eat Pooh.

It seems other people don’t share my yearning for a chunk of the brown stuff.

We Have Become Romanian Mall Rats

Mall culture in Bucharest is like Windsor culture in Augusta. Skinny middle-aged women show off their angular figures and smoke cigarettes. And there we are, Americans on the loose, paying $5 for a tiny-bass Espresso.

Winter Walks

Update on S.1 ~ The Potential Nightmare Continues

Can you say, "Huh? $200,000 fines? For what? The right to know what our elected representatives are doing in Washington?" Have these people lost their minds?

Here comes the ice storm!

Want to get people to react?

Tell them it might snow.

Nicolae Grigorescu

That's because I depend on Grigorescu. His is a familiar, friendly name I'm always glad to see, because he gets me home when I've been out.

Real men build planes...in the sky

Those union guys won't build planes on the ground in Seattle, so it's about time we got these skydiving scabs to keep the line moving...

The Final Kicks of 2006

Now the we are 2 weeks into the new year, let's look back at 2006 and hand out a few final kicks to the throat.

An Eye For A (Bloody Disembodied) Eye

A friendly discussion on What Not To Watch

You May Have Been in Bucharest too Long If...

...you find yourself keeping an eye on dogs to figure out when to cross the street in certain parts of town.

Out in the Streets

I won't even go into the details of the Mexican restaurant we found the other night. I may need therapy after that one.

Duke's non-rape case

What will happen to the accuser?

Redeployment

While We Were Sleeping

Would it be so terribly bad for all of us if 2007 becomes the year that "serving the people" returned to the job descriptions of those in public service?

Any fans of Rocky IV out there?

If you've ever seen the movie Rocky IV, you'll never forget the image of the Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Here's your chance to be him...

A Bit of Time Travel

Maybe Douglas Adams wasn't attempting to entertain us. Maybe he was trying to warn us of our inevitable, albeit very silly, doom.

What do we do about downtown graffiti?

You know Augusta is starting to turn the corner on urban hipness when we publicly proclaim we have a problem with graffiti.

When A Limo Just Won't Do

I worry about the kind of woman who would go for this idea...

Strip Fix

Here's what is really on my mind.

Pythons and Wisdom Teeth

The Off-to-Work Crowd

They walked single-file, with bags in their hands. And there were seven of them. If they had been singing, "High-ho, high-ho, it's off to work we go," I would have...well, I don't know what I would have done, but it was quite a sight.

Still Here, Still Working On My Gold Medal In Couching

I'm hoping to very soon stop talking about how gross I feel; today is not that day.

More Culinary Delights

Who should be the next head football coach at Burke County?

Burke County's Board of Education has their hands full this week. The Burke County school board hopes to name the new head fooball coach at Burke County High School late Tuesday night.

The six finalists for the position are:

Burke County assistant coach Jim Pavao
Chamblee coach Brent Miller
Chattahoochee coach Terry Crowder
Laney coach Eric Parker
McIntosh County Academy coach Robby Robinson
Ware County coach Dan Ragle

Migratory

Wanderlust

La Ma-ma-mama!

So that's the scoop on that. I know my family will be disappointed I'm not eating something terribly exotic, but the most exotic thing I eat is mutbal, which is made out of eggplant. It is also not Romanian.

You be a lawmaker!

If you had the chance of pushing one law, one issue, one bit of lasting impact for the state – what would it be?

I Heart Heartbeat

It's amazing that something so tiny can make you feel so sick.

Gazing From My Balcony

One girl's windowed room is full of books, so I wondered if she was a student or a bibliophile or both.

Leaving the Nest, Almost

One small flutter closer to flying the coop

Progress

What passes for excitement around here.

Snow

In Georgia, there is such a thing as a "snow day." It's magical. It's wonderful. It's a day when the world looks like a Christmas card and ordinary people drive into ditches.

Hindsight

"I know this is horrible," I said, "but I'm getting that chimichanga. It's calling to me."

Where Do We Bury James Brown?

So where should James Brown be buried?

Lynx on New Year's Eve: More on a record outburst

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

My brothers had to stay; they were the opening act for Elvis, and they had agreed to play Auld Lang Syne with him at midnight.

S.O.S.!! (and Tube Cheese)

As far as updates go, I have a raging leak in the bathroom, my apartment has been overtaken by mold and my phone just ran out of credit.

Sports stars that need good swift kick in the throat

My New Year's Eve was a bad news, good news situation. The bad news, I was too sick to go out so I spent the night on my sofa. That's right, I spent New Year's Eve sick AND sober. The good news, Since I couldn't go anywhere I had time to work on my latest blog. Here are the nominees for the 2006 Kick in the Throat sports award.

Avoiding a mid-east nuclear war

An act of war is sometimes necessary.

Stumbling Upon History

Romania was probably the place to be on that particular night, because that particular night is when Romania became part of the EU. I tapped Mark and pointed. "Look," I said. "History."