I am a bona fide redneck at heart. I was born and raised in LA (lower Alabama), and I currently live in Tennessee. I love country music, boiled goobers, Bama football, and at least one cold one a day (diet coke). I was so ingrained in Southern culture as a child that I thought anything north of Birmingham was Yankee territory. With my unashamed redneck background, I am inestimably equipped to understand and share redneck vocabulary. As you can imagine, these are not original with me; they are pervasive on the Internet. For today, I will share with you what Read the full article…

So what makes you break into a cold sweat? What do you avoid at all costs? What, at the mere mention of the name, makes you queasy in your stomach? What are your phobias? I definitely suffer from acrophobia, the fear of heights. I probably have a mild case of agoraphobia, the fear of crowds, since I’m such a messed-up introvert. There are some fears, however, that I did not know existed. These fears are supposedly legitimate. Real people have these real phobias in real life. Let me share eleven of the more weird fears I uncovered. Lepidoterophobia – fear of butterflies. Read the full article…

It is an understatement to say that none of us knows the details of the future. But that doesn’t stop many pundits from making “expert” predictions. I recently researched some really bad predictions of past years. Here are 14 of them for now. “I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern ship building has gone beyond that.” (Edward J. Smith, captain of the RMS Titanic, 1912) “The actual building of roads devoted to cars is not for the near future, in spite of many rumors to that effect.” (Harpers Weekly, 1902) “With your voice, nobody is going Read the full article…

Just when I thought I was done using church bulletin bloopers in my blog, I came across several new bloopers. At least they are new to me. I hope you enjoy my latest additions to this vital genre of the written language. It’s Drug Awareness Week: Get involved in drugs before your children do. The Sunday night men’s Bible study will meet on Saturday at the park, unless it rains. In that case they will meet at their regular Tuesday evening time. Illiterate? Write to the church office for help. The class on prophecy has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Read the full article…

When I first asked for photos this morning, I didn’t expect one like this. Thanks, Jenn Kozak. For some reason I think I have lost my appetite.

It’s no secret that I’m a stickler about grammar. I’ve written more than one post on the subject. Because of this, I often receive photos from readers who see egregious gramatical and spelling errors on signs and products. Like this picture from David Grant: So send me a photo of anything with a grammatical error: signs, products, ads, book jackets, etc. I will publish most, if not all of them, on this blog and give you full credit. Please send the photos to my Twitter account: @ThomRainer. I’ll probably be motivated to send free books to some of the real Read the full article…

I have been absolutely amazed at the response to the two blogs I wrote on introversion. I have received countless comments, tweets, emails, texts, and calls. It seems that my admission of my own introversion has thrust me into a group of likeminded persons. We are sufficiently comfortable communicating behind the quiet clicks of a computer with no personal interaction. None of the introverts who contacted me asked to speak with me. I am not surprised. Indeed I am pleased. So I’ve decided to poke a little fun at us introverts. Here are a few one-liners written in the spirit Read the full article…

I have flown over two million miles, and I have witnessed so many weird, dumb, and rude things while flying. But I have also witnessed many good and noble things. I recently saw a person give up his seat to a soldier who was on standby. The soldier was returning from Afghanistan and had not seen his family in over a year. So with the perspective of the good, the bad, and the ugly, I have devised my own ten commandments for flying. Some are positive and some are, well, not. Thou shall be kind to your fellow passengers. Everyone Read the full article…