A conversation does not have to be scintillating in order to be memorable. I once met a president of the United States, and his second sentence to me was about knees.

Nobody is going to try to confiscate guns, although some Web sites know better: President Obama, they are certain, wants to.

I find most 'sacred music' pretty dismal.

Coming up through the ranks of any calling can be rough, but that battered soul who survives the early years of courting the comic muse comes close to knowing what only the soldier knows: What combat is like.

Anything seen on TV is, in a subtle and sinister sense, thereby endorsed.

Japanese is sort of a hobby of mine, and I can get around Japan with ease.

History is not reassuring on the subject of the longevity of seemingly lasting great nations, is it?