Shelf At Work Takes Me Back In Time

by Kevin Burton    A piece of my past was hiding in plain sight in my work space about two feet above my right shoulder.    I’m still getting used to the surroundings at my part-time clerical job at a local church.  The place is a maze! Thankfully, my job duties don’t take me around …

Huge Hit “Maggie May” Almost Discarded

by Kevin Burton     The smash hit that was number one on the American pop chart fifty years ago today was almost tossed aside.    It was included on Rod Stewart’s “Every Picture Tells A Story” LP at the last minute, according to the entry in the Billboard Book of Number One Hits.     One …

Getting The Lay Of Your Spiritual Land

by Kevin Burton    This fourth-period class at the Earthly School for the Spiritually Blind is one many of you will not be familiar with.    At the school for the blind we had a class called “Orientation and Mobility” to teach us how to navigate our surroundings safely with the use of certain tools …

“The Electric Company” Brought The Power

by Kevin Burton    Fifty years ago a technicolor light was turned on. For me it still shines.   The premier episode of The Electric Company aired on PBS on Oct. 25, 1971. The show makes a very short list of my favorite television shows ever.     It burst forth on PBS in the wake …

High-Profile Vaccination Firing At WSU

by Kevin Burton    Former Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich will sue the state of Washington after his firing with cause for refusing the Covid 19 vaccine, ESPN reported.    Monday was the deadline set by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee for state employees to be vaccinated. Rolovich and four assistant coaches were fired Monday …

Preparing For Grace, Our New Cat Daughter

by Kevin Burton    There is a very small area rug on the floor in the laundry room.    Unlike the many other things on the floor in the basement, this one is there for a reason, a good reason.     This one marks the space where the food and water will go for our …

This Artist Socked It To Us Twice In 1968

by Kevin Burton    In 1981 Dolly Parton hit number one on both the country and pop charts with the song “9 to 5.”     But which female solo artist was the first to hit those two heights, 13 years before that?    Hint: It’s her birthday today.    The song in question was country …

Home Ec Class For The Spiritually Blind

by Kevin Burton    Many of us recall best, our culinary mishaps from Home Economics class in high school. But there were other elements to that training.    In Home Ec your teachers tried to train you to build a safe, efficient, nourishing household for yourself, and an eventual spouse and children.     In the …

Girl Scout Cookies Are Marketing Magic

by Kevin Burton    Let’s open another box of cookies, shall we?    Yesterday on Page 7 we established that October is National Cookie Month.  If you’re like me you have let several Octobers go by without having this knowledge.  But it/s never too late to make up for lost time.    One of the …

Go Crazy Cookie Monster, Go Crazy!

by Kevin Burton    It hurts my heart to know that in 2007, Cookie Monster began talking about cookies as a “sometimes food.”    This was in response to growing levels of childhood obesity in the United States. In 2006 the people at the Sesame Workshop (formerly Children’s Television Workshop) started emphasizing healthy eating and …