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Burton Cole

Believe me, man flu is real

“Man flu” is real. Science says so. Sorta. A few years back, Dr. Robert H. Shmerling, a known man, wrote for Harvard Health Publishing that women who refer to man flu as “wimpy man syndrome” very well could be committing a horrible injustice. “Some have suggested that early man ...

Life: A series of obstacles interrupting naps

To enjoy life, the life coach said, one must overcome common obstacles, such as fear, unreasonable expectations, bum goals and those inner voices whispering that success is for others, not for people like you. I’m not on a quest for an exciting, wild life. At my age, all I want is a nap. ...

I need a cure to recover from cures for the common cold

Glance out the window to see what the weather’s doing. Good. Now peek again. Sure, it’s only been a few seconds, but that’s long enough for northeast Ohio to throw us another curve ball. The temperature may have changed by 20 or 30 degrees. If it was sunny, now it’s raining. Or ...

I didn’t want to know this much

In 1956, filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock released one of his masterpieces, “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” It was a film full of suspense, intrigue and not knowing what was really going on. Seventy years after Hitchcock’s movie, we’re now “The People Who Know Too Much.” Our lives are ...

That just ain’t normal

About 150 miles south and a tad east of Normal, Illinois, sits the village of Oblong. I know this because once upon a time, I wrote for a newspaper in Decatur, Illinois, which was a little closer to Normal than Oblong. One day, the society page of our newspaper carried this headline: ...

The Joke Lady of Niles: 82 and still giggling

You can’t hide from The Joke Lady. I met Marcie “The Joke Lady” Danyi of Niles by U.S. Postal Service back in 2020, shortly after some annoying virus was making its rounds in the news — and the world. Marcie was 78 back then (“My mind still thinks I’m 25,” she told me. “My ...