DUANE CROSS
scribe. editor. sarcastic curmudgeon.

My affinity for words dates to reading the newspaper at the breakfast table growing up in the 1970s in Aberdeen, Mississippi. Newspapers took me to exotic locales — New York, Chicago, Los Angeles — and opened my eyes to the world beyond the cotton fields, cornrows, and soybean patches of Northeast Mississippi. I’ve been fortunate to stand on the beaches of the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, as well as peer into Canada and Mexico.

I was born in Tennessee, raised in Mississippi, educated in Alabama, worked in Louisiana and Georgia. (And among other places, I’ve been to Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas; I’ve got the SEC covered.) A wanderlust for the open highway, I got that from my Granny Cunningham, who loved road trips. My parents are Kennedy Democrats. I’m more of a “good government” guy — but a lone nut didn’t shatter the America that could have been, so I question whether there is a good government.

I’m a son, brother, husband, and father. I follow the news. I love like watch sports. I’m an entertainment junkie. And yes, Holden Caulfield wishes he was me …

Politics make me laugh; politicians make me want to cry. I have opinions on a lot of things, but if you’re looking for something specific, it’s not here. I will not be defined. Instead, enjoy a collection of stories, links, photos, and videos that will make you think, that may surprise you, that will always give you more insight into something.

I have a tight circle of friends, and we laugh at inappropriate times and appropriate things — like political correctness. I love my wife, which is old-fashioned, I know. My kids make me laugh, and I try to embarrass them when opportunity knocks.

I believe faith > religion. I probably like a lot of the same things you do, especially if they include good times, a chilled Jack Daniel’s in hand, with a fire pit crackling as the sun goes down — or comes up; I’m not judgmental.

Journalism is vastly different than five years ago, much less the past 25, 50 years. Business (read: beancounters’ analytics-only approach) has put a stranglehold on editors and writers in the name of “corporate synergy” and “partnerships.” The separation of church and state idiom has been tossed into a corner, sharing space with a tattered AP Stylebook and a battered Underwood typewriter. (However, content is still king whether or not pencil-pushers want to believe.)

Within this corner of the World Wide Web, I share unfiltered, often not-so-rose-colored opinions — on journalism, things that interest me, and the pursuit of … well, life. Some days it may be pretty. Every day it will be the brutal honesty that I seek from family and friends. Present the facts and let people make their decision.

We will not agree on everything. We may not agree on most things. I can respect that. You be you. I will be me.

  The Pivot Questionnaire (Inside the Actor’s Studio questions)

• What is your favorite word? Daddy.
• What is your least favorite word? No.
• What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Intelligence from worldly experiences.
• What turns you off? Ignorance — facts are readily available for those who want to know the truth.
• What is your favorite curse word? F*ck-me-running.
• What sound or noise do you love? Laughing.
• What sound or noise do you hate? Crying.
• What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? GM of the New York Yankees.
• What profession would you not like to do? Surgeon; a patient dying on the table would be the worst.
• If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Well done, son.