One thing that made Saturdays complete when I was a child living on Railroad Avenue was the procession of itinerant comic book exchange boys and girls.
     Two or three kids from the Pecos and Commerce street area, delegates of the 1940s version of the Bookmobile, sans books or wheels, came by regularly, their arms full of comic books for exchange. Because my siblings and I were extremely literate (okay, well, where comic books are concerned), we customarily had a pile of crime, detective, humor, war, adventure and romance comic books.

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    A couple of weeks ago, one of us at the Optic wrote an editorial applauding efforts to make more and more public places smoke free. As an ex-smoker, I am among the worst critics of the habit, but it’s not a fit of hauteur that motivates me; frankly, I hate the smell of the noxious weed that I used to inflict on others, without even asking, “Mind if I smoke?” The editorial mentioned the reality that entire families on their way to dinner at a restaurant may never even step into the restaurant because of one person near the door who’s lit up.

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    Seby Cordova is Sandia Casino’s newest millionaire, and that’s great news for all.
    A million dollars is a 1 followed by six zeroes. It’s the amount of bread few of us can expect to earn in a lifetime.
     Now for a while, let’s forget the bird-in-hand experience in which it’s better to get a cash payout on the spot than to have it meted out in monthly or yearly installments. Getting it in one chunk enables us to take care of our own investments, whereas if we get it in, say, 30 installments, we might not live that long.

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    If Las Vegas area Super Bowl fans are correct, things will be bleak for the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, as people settle in for their yearly dose of football and meatball stew.

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