I will admit it: I am a martini kind of guy. Gin and a little dry vermouth, stirred, served straight up in a cocktail glass. If I am feeling crazy I will have a Gibson but only if there is some Hendricks lying around. Even worse, I am a snobby martini kind of guy. Don’t talk to me about vodka martinis, apple martinis, chocolate martinis, Bellini Martinis, kumquat martinis, or anything else that ends in the syllables “tini.” Just because it comes in a cocktail…

Several months ago Jason and Irene asked if I would perform their marriage ceremony while in Cancun, Mexico. I was honored, but more than that it left me more than a little nervous – I mean, I have enjoyed the opportunity to do lots of things in my life, but perhaps nothing more important than this. I of course immediately accepted. First things first, I attacked the easy part: studying for my Doctor of Divinity, receiving my ordination and title (The Right Reverend Rusty Smith) and obtaining…

There is a strange stretch of road on Interstate I-85 between exits 57 and 62 that is like no other that I have ever experienced. Rather than being utilized as a high-speed connector for traveling long distances, this five mile section of asphalt is instead used by locals to travel between the adjacent towns of Auburn and Opelika. Now there is nothing conceptually wrong with that of course; the problem is that they actually treat it as a local surface road: traveling in the left hand lane…

This is Karen. She runs the show on the morning shift at the on-campus Starbucks. Every morning she welcomes me by name and alerts the barista on duty as to my regular order (Cinnamon Scone with a Venti Black Tea Latte) without even asking. Sometimes I wonder if she is just showing off – I think she is trying to rub in her superior mnemonic abilities. Then again, I know it is really just that she is required to do it as part of her job –…