It’s not just for vampires and NFL quarterbacks — When I first heard that Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was going to do a Darkness Retreat to decide his future in the NFL, I had the same question as everyone else — just how big a hippie is Aaron Rodgers, anyway? After some digging, I found out that…

Good luck bonding without your oxytocin, suckers — Prairie voles, as I have come to learn, are a favorite of scientists who study human behavior. Why? Because they know how to love. Or at least how to bond. Once they find their soulmate fur-person, they are mated for life. Which is about two years, but still, good for…

The passion was there — and maybe the talent too — Zelda Sayre was a Jazz Age good time girl and the only wife of American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was a dancer, a writer, and a painter with both drive and discipline when the occasion called for it. Alcoholism upended her life and stymied her artistic pursuits — as…

An oldie doesn’t necessarily mean goodie — Dear Gen Z, I recently read an article about how flip phones are making a comeback with your generation. You call it ‘vintage’ technology. I say good riddance. The next thing we know, you’ll be wanting to bring back dial up AOL and Justin Timberlake’s jewel colored sunglasses. Seriously, some…

Two days of terror frozen in time — After more than 2,000 years, the event still has the power to shock. In 79 AD, around lunchtime, citizens of the prosperous city of Pompeii began to notice a cloud over Mount Vesuvius. No one had seen anything like it before, as the volcano has been dormant for generations. An…

Saturday poetry prompt: words breaking up — She had a long time to think about the Albatross The bird that hung around the sailor’s neck Because it was a good thing and because he killed it In nature Not only can the Albatross fly for miles without flapping its wings But they mate for life, snug against their single egg…

Is there nothing that guy didn’t do? — General, strategist, lover of Cleopatra — Dictator Julius Caesar is one Roman ruler whose name and deeds have survived for more than 2,000 years. Some of the things he implemented have lasted too — like a calendar with January 1st as the kick off date. All hail the Julian calendar More than 600 years before…

The Baby New Year has spoken — Waxahachie, TX (AP) — The Baby New Year has spoken. On January 1, at approximately 7 a.m. CST, Waxahachie Wendy emerged from her crib in Sanderson Estates to travel to the city’s town square. In the time-honored ceremony that followed at sunrise, Wendy indicated by gurgle that she did see…

For some reason, the whale has to be white — From the Nantucket Current Recently Discovered Cookbook Contains Melville Favorite (Dec. 30, 2022) After 50 years, Maeve Renner thought it was high time to clean out her attic. Tucked back under the eaves of a house that had once belonged to her great-grandparents, she discovered the sea chest of her…