by Stacey Denny | Feb 3, 2026 | Plain Speech Messages
When I was growing up, a man in our town ran for town board. He had the same last name as a well-respected citizen and just enough people were confused by the similarity in names that he was elected. He made the mistake in assuming that since he’d been elected to...
by Stacey Denny | Feb 3, 2026 | Plain Speech Messages
I have a nifty little app on my smart phone that allows me to look up genealogies, not just of famous people, but of just about everyone, including Mr. Hoban, an elderly man who lived down the street from me when I was a kid. He was a veteran of two wars—World War I...
by Stacey Denny | Feb 3, 2026 | Plain Speech Messages
I’ve been sick this past week. At first, I thought it was a common cold, which isn’t a big deal. Three days arriving, three days here, three days departing. But then it went to my lungs, so I thought maybe it was bronchitis, which I tend to get this time of year. But...
by Stacey Denny | Jan 16, 2026 | Plain Speech Messages
The interesting thing about remaining in your hometown is the difficulty in transcending your childhood reputation. When I was in Mr. Scudder’s ninth-grade government class, I mispronounced the word seniority, pronouncing it as two words senior and ority. That was...
by Stacey Denny | Jan 1, 2026 | Plain Speech Messages
When I was growing up, meals were a pit stop I hurried through to get on with the race. I remember my mother asking me to sit down at the table instead of standing at the countertop to eat. Now that I’m older, I enjoy unhurried meals and plan them out days in advance,...
