News: Columnists

Jan. 13, 2013 @ 08:54 PM

Neil Offen: How to keep those resolutions

You’ve made them already, those little promises to yourself that after all these years of being you, you’re going to be somebody else during 2013. But how are you actually going to keep those New Year’s resolutions?


Jan. 12, 2013 @ 06:17 PM

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan: Y’all stickers and taxpayer money

“As also with y’all.” That’s the bumper sticker I saw on my morning commute Friday. One of the best I’ve seen, ever, and want for myself, along with “I Brake for Historical Markers.”


Jan. 09, 2013 @ 12:54 AM

A rally cry to tame spending

Democrats not allergic to arithmetic must know the cost of their "fiscal cliff" victory. When they flinched from allowing all of George W. Bush's tax rates, especially those on middle-class incomes, to expire, liberalism lost its nerve and began what will be a long slide into ludicrousness.


Jan. 08, 2013 @ 07:11 PM

Neil Offen: Too smart for my own good

I always said I would never get any complicated, cutting-edge, intricate, high-flying new technological gimmick. And then I got a microwave.


Jan. 07, 2013 @ 10:20 AM

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan: Illuminating Durham corners

Lucky number seven. That’s where I am in years spent at The Herald-Sun, typing away every weekday and some weekends. I’ve gotten to know Durham in a way that a lot people don’t, meeting people and going places I likely would not in a different profession. Most people operate in circles of work, home, faith, friends, food and shopping. A map of a reporter’s daily doings would show straight lines to and fro, making up a new dozen-pointed star each week. We cover a lot of ground. You could drop me anywhere in the city and I could find my way out by following my nose. Now, I couldn’t tell you which street to turn left on, then right on, then right again. But I could tell you which building (which used to be a different building) I take a left near.


Dec. 30, 2012 @ 05:59 PM

Neil Offen: Your 2012 trivia contest, with trivial answers

Think you know 2012? Spent the whole year there? Or were you too busy posting twitterpics?


Dec. 29, 2012 @ 06:58 PM

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan: A rebuilding year

There’s a phrase college football fans tend to say when the season’s not going so well. “It’s a rebuilding year.” We say this so often with a smile, knowing that we’re just making an excuse, giving the team a pass because we’re all-weather fans.


Dec. 23, 2012 @ 08:38 PM

‘Twas the digital night

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
         not a creature was stirring, not even the cordless mouse.
         The stockings were hung by the Kindle Fire place with care
         in hopes our Blackberries wouldn’t need more repair.
         The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
         while visions of Androids danced in their heads.


Dec. 22, 2012 @ 08:26 PM

‘Look for the helpers’

I saw Saint Nicholas’ workshop last week. Elves dressed in green were busy sorting and arranging toys for girls and boys.


Dec. 16, 2012 @ 06:06 PM

Your medical bill, an explanation

Dear former patient,

Our payment procedure in dealing with your recent procedure follows a certain prescribed procedure.


Dec. 15, 2012 @ 04:02 PM

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan: It’s a hard-knock life for lots of kids

In the toy aisle among the holiday shoppers in Durham, I heard a little kid say something with a really nasty tone of voice. The kid’s phrasing also conveyed that this was something repeated from an adult, and not a happy one.


Dec. 09, 2012 @ 04:48 PM

Moving away from the cliff

My fellow Americans, the only way this nation can avoid fiscal disaster is to stop using the word fiscal all the time.


Dec. 08, 2012 @ 07:26 PM

The elf is watching you

Fa-la-la-la-la. I’ve been listening to “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” at least daily on the radio since Thanksgiving. I love everything about the holidays and fully immerse myself in it, trying to savor every moment before dreary January arrives. I’ve whipped myself up into such a festive frenzy that it has put me on the fritz.


Dec. 02, 2012 @ 09:16 PM

Refinancing? Sign right here

After five months, three credit reports, two appraisals, six faxes, four secret handshakes, 18 emails, one organ transplant, 11 telephone calls and the covert transfer of 23 secret documents by drones, the refinancing is done.


Dec. 01, 2012 @ 02:24 PM

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan: Biscuit stories and glories

Did you know there are people out there who have not eaten a Bojangles’ biscuit? I know, I know. Who could fathom such a thing.