Burt’s Eye View: I just had a thought. Now, what was it?

February 8, 2025

Writing a column every week is hard. Not the writing so much. It’s the coming up with topics week after week that taxes the nooks and crannies of my cerebrum, cerebellum and Cocoa Wheats. That’s why I keep a file of random thoughts and observations — to goose the gerbils in my brain to germinating ideas. Let’s take a gander at a few of these eggs. • Maybe eating a doughnut wasn’t cheating on my diet. Maybe going on a diet was cheating on my doughnut. • When I was a toddler, I didn’t care about things like what to wear. My parents dressed me. Looking back on some of ...

Some football, Phil and fondue: Welcome, February

February 1, 2025

As I rooted around for inspirational quotes about February, I came across this ridiculousness: “February: Our last chance to NOT play in the snow.” Whichever great philosopher came up with that piece of faux wisdom obviously isn’t from northeast Ohio! We can NOT play in the snow all the way through April. Sometimes even May. NOT playing in the snow, especially with a shovel, is among my favorite activities in life. I used to play in the snow many years ago. I gave it up for old age. Or maybe old age crept up on me when I stopped playing in the snow. All I know is a chair, a ...

Company is coming! Let’s get to ridding!

January 18, 2025

I stacked tonight’s dirty dishes on top of last night’s still littering the sink. My kicked my balled-up coat further into the corner against the closet door — the coat closet door. I haven’t coaxed the vacuum cleaner to life since… let’s not get into that. I don’t know if my calendar stretches back that far. As I survey my apartment, I know that it’s time. Action must be taken. It’s time. I’m going to invite company over. I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but “Company’s coming!” was the battle cry that always preceded “ridding up” places ...

Snow days sure aren’t what they used to be

January 11, 2025

Snow and ice shut down roads, county offices and Taco Bell. The dire predictions of snow and ice piled up much higher than the actual snow and ice, but still, it was sufficient to keep us tucked away in our homes. I used to dream about days like this when I was a kid. Growing up in the ...

Wise sayings for the new year

January 4, 2025

With age comes wisdom. That’s the rumor, anyway. I, for one, have never been this old, therefore, I have never been so full of wisdom as I am full of it now. Or full of something. Chocolate chip cookies, most likely. To quote the great philosopher Robert Paul, “I’m a little bit older, ...

The new math left me cold

December 28, 2024

Remember the Cold War? It raged between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. when I was but a kidling, but already was thawing. No longer did kids have to drill ducking beneath school desks in case of a nuclear strike. That’s right, at one time school desks were considered armor. The grownups ...