Category Archives: Opinions
Language of food is timeless
“ON THE WAY”
By Olivia Fowler
Good food ranks pretty highly on the ladder of importance to many people. My family is among that group. As a whole, we enjoy food in an almost recreational way. Although we surely aren’t the only family who respect good food and recall special meals and dishes fondly, I’ve lately begun to think the love of good food is a legacy passed from one generation to the next.
The reason behind these thoughts can be found in a book I just finished reading titled “At Home” by Bill Bryson.
Rainy days and Mondays
All About Ben
By Ben Robinson
For the Courier
The old song by the Carpenters said “rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”
Unfortunately, eventually we understood that for Karen Carpenter it was “rainy days and an eating disorder” that got her down. She died much too young from anorexia, which I cannot understand.
Not wanting to eat seems akin to not wanting to breathe, and I believe in breathing a lot. One look at me and even the least experienced doctor can eliminate anorexia as one of my problems.
Kindness works
Life As I Know It
By Nicole Daughhetee
Staff Reporter
I have been on a journey of self-discovery for as long as I can remember. As I have said before, we are all works in progress. Some of us actively seek to learn more about ourselves to improve our lives and relationships with others. Some of us fall into circumstances that wind up teaching us applicable life lessons. Others ignore the idea of self-improvement altogether and are content to move through life in a state of blissful ignorance.
Over the last several months, I have been afforded a variety of opportunities to learn more about myself and how I interact with other people. There are some fairly simple, fundamental truths I constantly attempt to put into practice daily. Sometimes it is more difficult than at other times, but if we could all practice the most basic principle we learn growing up, imagine what a better world we would help shape.
Is it really up to us?
On The Way
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
Are elections sold to the highest bidder? What if both candidates raise exactly the same amount of money? Who wins then?
Most people I’ve spoken to made their minds up about their choices for November’s upcoming presedential election long ago. They neither listen to nor pay attention to political ads. And who can blame them?
Spurrier lends vocal support to annual Food Fight Bowl
BY Steve Spurrier
Head Coach USC
For the Courier
The Pickens Blue Flame and the Easley Green Wave rivalry is all you have to say, and a thousand memories come to mind from years of tradition.
On Friday, August 17, at 8 p.m., the fifth edition of the Sam Wyche Food Fight Bowl will create more fond memories in Pickens High School’s new stadium. Get there early — it will be a packed house for this year’s opening day game for both teams!
It’s never too late to contribute to your favorite school’s fundraising effort. Pickens County Meals on Wheels is the beneficiary of all the money raised by students. Each school’s goal is to raise the most money and claim the Ultimate Food Fight Trophy. The presentation of the trophy and the donation totals will be announced at halftime with the help of Grasshopper Mowers again this year. This was a real highlight last year; don’t miss it! The winning school will display the trophy in their school’s display case until the 2013 contest reignites.
Last year’s fundraising was too close to call either school a loser, but not this time. This year it’s winner take all, even if the difference is less than a dollar. Those Meals on Wheels folks will close the counting of the donations at 3:30 p.m. on the day of the game.
Personally, I hope you will financially support Meals on Wheels year-round, but you can support your team at the same time by contributing to this year’s Sam Wyche Food Fight Bowl.
Donate online at www.pcmow.org by using a credit card or PayPal, or contribute by mail to Meals on Wheels — P.O. Box 184, Easley, SC 29641.
I hope every loyal Gamecock fan will help outgive those roaring Tigers this year! Just do it!
Good luck to both squads. Have fun at the game. Know that you are making a difference in Pickens County by supporting Meals on Wheels. Everyone wins in this game!
Steve Spurrier, a former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for the University of Florida, is the head football coach at the University of South Carolina.
Battle of the bulge
“ALL ABOUT BEN”
By Ben Robinson
For the Courier
When my friends and I get together, the rules of social conduct are relaxed … perhaps even ignored. So last week when I met with my friends Tim and Bill, they were a bit brutal. Honest, but brutal.
“So, big Ben,” Tim said. “How’s the job search going?”
“Not too good,” I said. “I guess I’m just too dumb and too ugly for anybody to be interested in hiring me.”
“You might add in too egotistical,” Bill said.
“Well, I can at least help this situation,” I said. “I can lose some of this weight and get healthier.”
Tim and Bill raised their eyebrows at the same time.
“By ‘lose some weight,’ you’re talking about moving the scales from the bathroom, right?” Bill said.
“No, that wouldn’t do any good,” I said. “I need to get in shape.”
“Well, technically round is a shape, so you’re already there,” Tim said.
“No, I mean physically fit,” I said. “I doubt if you noticed, but I’ve been packing on the pounds lately.”
“No,” Tim said. “I just thought my living room had magically been transported into a closet.”
“Seriously,” I said. “We’re getting to the age when you start thinking about what you can do to live longer.”
“Get married,” Bill suggested.
“Will that make me live longer?” I asked.
“No,” Bill answered. “But it will make what time you have left seem a lot longer.”
“But that’s part of the problem,” I said. “How can I find a woman who finds me attractive if I don’t lose weight?”
“Simple,” Tim said. “Just find a good-looking woman, look deep in her eyes, and tell her, ‘I’ve just bought the highest-paying insurance policy I have ever had. And I need somebody to leave the money to when I’m gone.”
“Just make sure she realizes that by ‘when I’m gone,’ you mean when you’re dead, not just when you leave the room,” Bill added.
“Really, do you think the only way I can find true love is by promising an insurance payoff when I die?” I asked.
“No, of course not,” Tim said.
“There’s no such thing as true love,” Bill said. “You’d come just as close to finding the Loch Ness Monster.”
“Well, I’m going to lose some weight anyhow,” I said. “What do you think is the most important step?”
“Well, you need to fix your car,” Tim said.
“Fix my car?” I said. “What’s wrong with my car?”
“It keeps making turns into fast food drive-thrus,” Tim said.
“The drive-thru … what a wonderful invention,” Bill said. “Now you don’t even have to get out of your car to clog an artery.”
“Trust me, Ben,” Tim said. “The four food groups are not cheeseburgers, French fries, McNuggets and chocolate shakes.”
“I’ll admit I probably eat too much fast food,” I said.
“The Hamburglar could make a living off of you,” Bill added.
“OK, I’ll watch what I eat,” I said. “What would be the best exercise I could do to lose weight?”
“Push-aways,” Tim said.
“Push-aways?” I asked. “Do you mean push-ups?”
“No,” Bill said. “He means push-aways. After you eat a meal, you push yourself away from the table, so you’ll stop eating.”
Losing weight is going to be tough, but at least I can always count on the support of my friends.
Unemployment
By: Ben Robinson
It has been a long time since I have faced this problem.
When I first graduated from Clemson, I basically went from door to door, hoping to find some place that would give me a chance. After four months of searching, I stopped by the offices of “a local newspaper.”
Old Man Winter is faking us out
By Olivia Fowler
I don’t know what’s going on in the rest of the world, but the jonquils are blooming in our backyard. They think spring has already arrived. So do the robins. There were three hopping around outside Sunday afternoon. If spring has truly arrived, somebody forgot to let us know.
I want to believe what the robins believe, but I can’t.
It is my dearest wish for spring to be here. Every year, January and February crawl by with many days bringing nasty surprises when I open the front door and step out onto the porch.
Freakish is the new fabulous
By: Nicole Daughhetee
I grew up with Barbie, and I feel certain that I played with those dolls, in secret of course, long after most of my friends had packed theirs up and given them away. Over the years Barbie has met with some hostility, particularly from feminist voices decrying her unnatural, unrealistic body shape and the damaging results her plastic perfection has on the self-esteem of budding young girls.
