Jonathan Stinson

5 days ago | theredstonerocket.com | Jonathan Stinson

One way to tell just how cool I am is to see the enjoyment I get from following the Merriam-Webster dictionary on Facebook. It’s been just over a year since the Associated Press’ stylebook, which governs a lot of the words we use in the Rocket, switched from Webster’s New World dictionary to Merriam-Webster. Fun fact, even though both share the name Webster, which refers to the work of lexicographer Noah Webster, the two dictionaries are not related.

1 week ago | theredstonerocket.com | Jonathan Stinson

A couple of weeks ago, at the gas station on Goss Road, a snake bit a woman. Then, for good measure, when Conservation Officer Tristan Borostowski arrived on the scene to remove the snake, the snake bit him, too. Despite that, Borostowski is still a champion for the slithering, scaled serpents. “It’s a common misconception with a lot of people, they think snakes are bad, but they’re not,” he said. “They’re just misunderstood.

1 week ago | theredstonerocket.com | Jonathan Stinson

Who knew I had more than rugged good looks in common with Harrison Ford and Samuel L. Jackson? It turns out we all share a healthy fear, or perhaps disdain is a better word, for snakes. There’s, of course, Ford’s famous line from his Indiana Jones franchise: “Snakes! Why’d it have to be snakes?”And there’s Jackson’s famous line from “Snakes on a Plane.” Playing Neville Flynn, he exclaims, “I’ve had it with these…”Well, I probably shouldn’t finish that quote in a family newspaper.

2 weeks ago | theredstonerocket.com | Jonathan Stinson

When cash finally ceases to exist, there’s only one thing I’ll miss about it. I’ll get to that in a minute. First, allow me to tell you all the ways I loathe thee. Thee being cash of course. My falling out of love with the currency started with working at a counter at a fast-food establishment that wasn’t known for being very fast, but was, at least at the time, very cheap.

3 weeks ago | theredstonerocket.com | Jonathan Stinson

People think having a doctor or lawyer in the family is advantageous or at least the capstone of a magnificent family tree. How many mothers and fathers have pushed their kids into one of those career paths just to say, “Look at our new doctor (or lawyer) in the family,” at a large family get-together? And, they think that having a familial tie to someone in those professions will come in handy one day. They are wrong.