Opinion: 13 years have been quite a ride

I love my smart phone. It is a repository for so much of my data, its organization reaches near hoarder status. It began many years ago with an electronic organizer as a deposit for telephone numbers. If I have ever talked to someone on the phone, there is a very good chance I still have his or her number.

The calendar feature contains an enormous amount of data. Birthdays and anniversaries compose most of the information.

Some people rely on their memories to keep significant dates in order. Remembering what day a loved one died is not something I keep in my memory. Their birthday is another story. That is the date to commemorate, not the day they left us.

This week marks a milestone for my Gravy by the Slice column. My calendar app told me so. Every week for 13 years, it has appeared in this spot. That is more than 670 individual rants. I love this job. Writing this column gives me, the opportunity to vent what the committee meeting in my head believes or thinks.

Thirteen years of cliches, metaphors and similes. All the best writing books caution young scribes to avoid relying on these word groups to fill up the page. I disagree, these sayings are comfortable and get the point across. I am often told I write like people talk. The word processing system I use disagrees with many of my word choices.

My favorite author, Stephen King, has referred to his writing as the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries. Everybody knows what that is and is why the simile works.

I am fond of the number 13. I have read everything I can find about Friday the 13th. The good ol’ Internet has many examples of why it is a good or bad number, lucky or unlucky.

I also am open to the idea that the paranormal is real. There are many things we puny humans don’t yet understand. Has earth been visited by extra-terrestrials? It could be. The History Channel seems to believe we have.

Is there a God? How much has the belief in a supreme being altered the course of human history? Is the DNA of man mixed with that of beings from another solar system? Are the two in any way related? Great food for thought.

I regret I won’t be around to enjoy the scientific discoveries that will be made in the next 100 years.

Cures for disease are just on the other side of the microscope if we could just read what is written on the slide.

How great would it be if stimulating a part of the brain would allow an adult to grow a new set of teeth? Stimulate another part of the brain and grow to a height one prefers. I think in the future these options will be discovered.

Writing a weekly (weakly?) column gives me an opportunity to examine how I think and feel about a given topic. Our publisher, the revered Chuck Doud, wrote an op-ed column every day for many years. I have always been in awe of this ability. Thanx so much for continuing to buy and read The Madera Tribune. Our industry has changed so much in the 25 years I’ve spent on this job. Today everyone with a keyboard fancies themselves journalists. The world has a great deal of weird in it and we are just actors on the stage, to badly quote the Bard.

Long days and pleasant nights, have a good weekend.

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Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.