On April 3, 2025, I enticed Carla and our friend Heather to join me in violating the no. 1 rule of our influencer-driven, celebrity-obsessed culture: Never meet your heroes. Landon Bryant and his lovely wife, Kate, are the rare exception. We were among the first to arrive at Eagle Eye Books in Decatur that night … Continue reading Landon talks… to me
As the New South’s most beloved humorist, I am highly sought after as a member of group chats. My contributions are hilarious and always result in a “HaHa” symbol from the other members of the group. That’s how I know I am hilarious. Why else would someone respond with the “HaHa” symbol? Ok, so maybe … Continue reading Group texts are the new social media
As it turns out, news of TikTok’s demise has been greatly exaggerated… just like everything else about TikTok. Unless you think the popular short-form video social media platform is spelled “Tick Tock” or has a “the” in front of it, you’re probably caught up on the “will it” or “won’t it” be banned drama, which … Continue reading Tick tock for TikTok
Carla and I have recently unlocked the key to marital communication – The Instagram Reel. With apologies to Gary Chapman, author of “The Five Love Languages,” we have discovered that sending each other Instagram Reels has become our love language. Maybe it’s the sixth one. It’s an exaggeration to say it has saved our marriage, … Continue reading Keepin’ it Reel
My social media feeds this summer have been filled with friends and acquaintances taking amazing trips to beautiful and sometimes exotic locations, inspiring both envy and anticipation of my own family beach trip. Rather than resent these posts, I find them interesting. Honestly, my first reaction is “good for them!” But this week when our … Continue reading Vacation performance
Wouldn't you hate to be the guy at the National Security Agency (NSA) reading all the lame Facebook posts trying to find evidence of terrorist activity or foreign espionage? OK, so it's probably not some guy analyzing petabytes of data over at the NSA, but still, it's got to be a thankless job. Even a … Continue reading Privacy in the New South
New South Essays 