Before Mark returned to Louisville, he fulfilled his promise to take me out for my 30th birthday. Our friend Sharon joined up with us and we enjoyed a rather sublime evening at Bonefish, Ceviche and downtown St. Petersburg.Nothing too noteworthy, other than to say that throughout the night, I kept thinking how blessed I am [...]

The fact that the New York Times publishes a regular column on poker tells you how big the sport has grown in the last few years. Today’s column by James McManus argues that the Poker World is Flat (a play on the title of Tom Friedman’s book that discusses global interconnectivity) and that online gambling [...]

Lynndie England, the U.S. soldier incarcerated for abusing detainees in Iraq, was badly burned in a prison kitchen accident, her mother said on Thursday. England, who was pictured holding a leash to a naked, hooded Iraqi inmate at the Abu Ghraib prison. England works in the prison’s kitchen, where she suffered second- and possibly third-degree [...]

A new poll shows that a majority of Pinellas parents who profess to follow the controversy over teaching evolution vs. intelligent design say the latter should be taught in schools. The Pinellas poll mirrors a national divide. But it also shows that intelligent design has gained mainstream support, even in a politically moderate county not [...]

Florida State’s leading tackler, linebacker A.J. Nicholson, was suspended by the team and questioned by police Thursday after a 19-year-old woman accused him of sexually assaulting her. I love my alma mater, but I just don’t know how many more Criminole incidents I can take.

Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy rejoined his team Thursday, a week after his oldest son’s death of an apparent suicide. Dungy is expected to be on the sideline Sunday when the Colts (13-2) host Arizona in the regular-season finale. This story has bothered me from day one, especially because I have two teenage siblings, which [...]

Sherwin just reminded me of the insane bet that I made at the beginning of the football season, which I made right after I chose Tatum Bell in my fantasy football league (my final record, a pitiful 1 and 12, although I think I did beat Sherwin in the final playoff game). The bet was [...]

If 32 murders this year in St. Pete wasn’t bad enough, the city also reported 49 hate crime incidents, most of any Florida city and the majority of Pinellas’ 63 reported cases, according to a study released today by Attorney General Charlie Crist. Not such a great day in St. Petersburg, is it Mr. Mayor? [...]

There are two very insighful, almost jaw-dropping surveys making their way around the web. The first survey by the University of Chicago shows that personal misery among Americans is at its highest levels since the early 1990s, with people saddled with woes over healthcare, unemployment, paying bills and romance. A second, seperate survey indicates that [...]

Seven days are all that are left before I turn 30. Because my birthday falls on January 4th, it faces the danger of being lost in the holiday shuffle. I, of course, do my absolute best to make sure this does not happen. See, I believe in the specialness of someone’s birthday and have always [...]