OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Not irreplaceable?
Longtime readers know I'm often easily amused, especially when it comes to words. Soooo ... imagine my face when I saw on Facebook the other day a screenshot o…
Stories by Brenda Looper
-
![]()
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Civility’s right
Sunday afternoon, I headed to the grocery store with a friend so we could get what we each needed for the week. We should have taken what sounded like gunshots…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Definition cloudy
As much as I sometimes decry social media, I admit there are some accounts that are always worth a follow. For the Word Nerd, following the Merriam-Webster dic…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Keep your cool
Friday's storm, while a bit scary at times (it got really dark where I was in midtown Little Rock, so much so that a closet was cleared out and helmets put at …
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Name that tune
It's still hot, and that makes me more easily distracted.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Antisocial media
My opinion on social media has never really been in doubt if you've read me for very long. While it has great capabilities to bring people together and inspire…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: In full sploot
What did I do on the Fourth? Who knows? This was written beforehand and I'm not psychic.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Change is slow
Since summer began (and even before), it has reminded me why it's my least favorite season. The storm Sunday evening, just a few hours after I left a friend's …
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Is it protected?
After my column last week, a friend emailed to let me know I'd left an important word out of an early paragraph when I was talking about rights and responsibil…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: On responsibility
Everyone talks a lot about their rights and what they're entitled to; too few talk about the responsibilities those rights entail.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: It’s my fight too
Any time we head into a month designated for recognition of a specific group (Black History Month, Women's History Month, etc.), there's usually some dissent o…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Its real purpose
People may think I exaggerate the effects of politics on our lives. And yet, it's so hard to find an area where it hasn't stuck its grimy fingers. It's worse t…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Find your people
If you're lucky, you have a lot of friends. If you're very lucky, you have a small group of friends who are more like family than anything else.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Taking a troll
Last Wednesday, a friend (I call him Snek Man) DM'd me, quite concerned with what he was seeing on the newspaper's website.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: It’s just logical
Whataboutism, red herrings, ad hominem attacks and other logical fallacies were alive in the comments that followed my column about recent shootings last week,…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Life on the edge
Friday night, about the time I was settling into bed at a friend's house after having enjoyed a night out at Argenta Community Theater's production of "Cindere…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: The cat’s meow
I could probably easily write about the departures of Tucker Carlson from Fox News and Don Lemon from CNN. However, I don't have cable, and even if I did, I wo…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: On writing better
Everyone needs an editor.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Reality bites
It's hard not to get frustrated with social media when you're firmly grounded in reality.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: To be understood
Despite living out in the country south of Fort Smith for the first 19 years of my life, I've never had much of a Southern accent. That came in handy for what …
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Such scaredy-cats
Spending time with fur-nephew Charlie always puts me in a better mood, especially so as the seasons change (though that's more by the calendar than the actual …
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Time after time
Time is weird. It crawls when you're doing something you don't want to do (especially if it's something you have to do, like register your car at the revenue o…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Women of honor
At a party to celebrate a friend's birthday this past weekend, I was struck by how many strong women were on that balcony.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Losing faith
One of the best ways to lose your faith in humanity is to check social media after a notable public figure has announced a health struggle. Sure, you're free t…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: It’s an outrage!
I didn't watch the Super Bowl. I haven't in a long while, even for the commercials (besides, the EDS "Herding Cats" commercial from 2000 will always be the bes…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Still off-track
What's normal anymore?
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Out of the gutter
Back when I was on the night copy desk, my boss would cringe a bit when I told a green new hire that one of the copy editor's jobs is to "think dirty before th…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Down, not out
That one-two punch really knocked me for a loop, and during my birthday week.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Woulda, coulda
At 11:30 Friday night, I finally was able to turn off my laptop and go to bed.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Gets our GOAT
Eventually I'll submit a word or phrase to be banished by Lake Superior State University and it will actually be picked. Not this time, though.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Another year gone
The end of the year always brings up thoughts on the previous 12 months and what we hope will be better in the year to come. And, if you're so inclined (I'm no…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: What’s important
A reader recently reminded me of a Christmas column I wrote that she enjoyed, so I thought I'd share an updated version of what was originally published Dec. 2…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Words up
The last couple of columns have been devoted to Words of the Year from the biggies, Merriam-Webster (gaslighting) and Oxford Languages (goblin mode). This week…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Goin’ goblin
Oh, how I would love to take credit for Oxford Languages' announcement of "goblin mode" as its Word of the Year. Alas, my pointing people to the site last week…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Word of honor
I really don't like getting political; I'm cranky enough on my own, but add politics as now practiced? Yeesh.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Give thanks
Giving thanks all year-round has been my goal for a while now, though I'm not quite as diligent about it as I could be. Most of the time those thanks are betwe…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Early call
Not all of my votes in this past election did much good, but I can be proud of them since I did my research. I voted early, as did a friend who ended up having…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: One year later
"Remember, remember, the fifth of November."--nursery rhyme
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Release valve
I can't pretend to understand the U.K. government. I can say, though, that its scandals seem to be more entertaining than ours (though maybe that's more becaus…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: How evolved!
I've long been a believer in evolution, biological and otherwise. Biological evolution is any genetic change in a population that is inherited over several gen…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Informed voters
Those who know me well know I despise politics as practiced today, which is why I don't identify with any party. A lot of that is because we were spoiled for r…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Falling in love
October has long been one of my favorite months, though lately it hasn't been so kind to my sinuses. Those of you with chronic sinusitis know exactly what I me…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: The art of opinion
Though my experience in the opinion side of the newspaper only goes back 11 years, my love for one specific endeavor within has been decades-long.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Know difference
More than half of my career has been spent on the news side of journalism, so I’m a bit of a zealot when it comes to the difference between facts and opinion.
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: A herd of words
One of the best things about online dictionaries is that they can be updated more often than the old print editions, and with expanded definitions since they'r…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Still cautious
Sometimes it’s tough coming up with column topics, especially on a long holiday weekend when you’re thinking more about recreational marijuana for dogs that pl…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: A broken system
I've never had much money. It's not that I haven't tried, but that I grew up pretty poor, and I happened to choose an occupation (local journalism) that tradit…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Reality bites
A text from a friend and former colleague, along with Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan's final column, got me to thinking.
-
![]()
OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Voted down price cap | An age of disconnect | It's not Darwin's fault
If you live in the state of Arkansas, more than likely you know someone who is diabetic or pre-diabetic. The estimate of Arkansans with diabetes is 360,000, or…
-
![]()
OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Finding joy in pain
We all like to think that we would never take pleasure in the misfortunes of others, but we're human. It happens. Uppance comes for all, and we get a little th…
