Shelbyville Times-Gazette: Columns: John Philleo

Swim free and learn water safety (06/19/09)
Last week, a young mother who had lost her son in an accidental drowning death last year allowed herself to be interviewed by our intern, Micky Pietkiewicz. I sat in on the interview, and I was touched by Tiffany Young's selflessness, and her willingness to speak to us about the circumstances surrounding the death of her son, Matthew G. Woods...

A trip from disco to bluegrass (05/31/09)
I've always been a lover of music, but Thursday night was the first opportunity I ever had to actually yell "Bravo!" Throughout the years, my musical tastes have varied. The first record I ever bought was "Car Wash" by Rose Royce: "Let me tell you it's always cool / and the boss don't mind sometimes if ya act a fool."...

The reluctant possum-slayer (02/20/09)
When I was about six years old, I wanted a BB gun. Every summer before my birthday and every winter before Christmas, I would beg to get one. In fact, I was a lot like that kid from "A Christmas Story." My mom was a lot like everyone else in the movie: "You'll put your eye out!"...

Members of the 'Greatest Generation' have the answers to life's little setbacks (01/09/09)
I've met a lot of people in Shelbyville who have influenced me in a positive way, and I've written about many of them in this column. There's one couple, however, that I've only mentioned once, and they deserve more credit than that. Their story is one that might have made Tom Brokaw's book, "The Greatest Generation," but as it turns out, the task has fallen to me to tell it here...

Only 24 more pounds, then I can quit smoking (12/19/08)
After a few weeks of half-measuring my health program, I took some positive steps this week and it ended up paying off for me. I got back to my aerobics class twice, and although I ate some large lunches and indulged myself with some sweets, I really cut back on my dinner portions and ate no late-night snacks...

Shelbyville is not flat (12/12/08)
I moved here from East Tennessee, where I've spent most of my life. I'm used to big hills and ridgelines throughout the city, and purple mountains on the horizon. So I generally think of Shelbyville as being mostly flat. When I think about driving down Madison Street, in my head, it seems like a stretch of parking lot...

At 34 people, my Thanksgiving celebration was light (12/05/08)
I've survived yet another Thanksgiving with my crazy, lovable, expansive family. We had 34 on hand this year, and met at a new venue. This year, we had our party at my niece Kelly's house in South Knoxville. We usually have Thanksgiving at her mother (my sister) Janet's house (also in South K-Town), so it was a little odd eating turkey in a new place...

Sick of turkey, glad for family gathering (11/28/08)
Are you sick of turkey yet? I'm betting that I am, but I wrote this column early this week because of the holidays, so I'm not yet sure. As of this writing, I'm getting psyched up for a trip home to Knoxville for the holiday. I have a big family -- very big. Both of my parents were only children, so I have no aunts, uncles or cousins, but I've got a ton of siblings, neices and nephews. How many? Hold on a minute while I count ... Well, maybe you better let me explain:...

Cream of tartar is not a soup (11/21/08)
The holidays are officially here, and if I manage to lose any weight over the next month and a half, it will truly be a miracle. Last week I wrote about our penchant for bringing food to work here at the T-G, and Wednesday was no different as we held our Thanksgiving dinner...

Scary food encounter retold (11/14/08)
I am literally eating a piece of tasty, meaty, cheesy, cold pizza as I begin to write this. And it's so good! I write this to illustrate a point: The Times-Gazette is actually a culinary delights club thinly disguised as a newspaper. I'm not kidding ... it's entirely true...

Chili, fixins too good to pass up (11/07/08)
We held a chili cook-off at work Thursday, with Teresa Ward winning first place out of six chili entries. Many others brought desserts, hot dogs, chips and other fixings, and everybody said they really enjoyed it. Of course, I ate four small bowls of chili and three desserts. And a chili dog. And some chips and guacamole. Now stop that chuckling! You know I had to try some of everything .....

The key is wanting what you've got (10/17/08)
After my last column, one of our online readers posted a long comment in response to it, which in part suggested that taking some time off during an illness is perhaps the best way to go. The comment also said that martyrdom can be counterproductive to a healthy lifestyle. Ouch!...

Trying to cheat on a 'diet' in this town is spooky (10/12/08)
I'm looking ahead to the United Way Spooktacular 5K Run/Walk, and it's not looking good. It's only two weeks away, and it's getting scarier every time I think about it. I have only run a few times in the past few weeks, and not at all this past week...

Pressman enters exercise class with 'strip show' (10/03/08)
Times-Gazette head pressman Martin Jones was a big hit at Zumba Tuesday. I had dared him to join me, and of course, that worked. Men are suckers for dares. Of course, being an (amateur) actor, he made a grand entrance, sauntering into the exercise room after the first song started, calling out loudly, "Where's Philleo?"...

Embracing your inner albatross (09/12/08)
I learned some very revealing information about myself and others at a management seminar Thursday. The seminar was made available through the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation's Traveling Campus, and was held at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Consultant William I. Beauchamp (pronounced Beecham) led the seminar...

Faith gives us courage to face fears (08/29/08)
I flew in an airplane for the first time in about 10 years this week, and I was surprisingly calm. When I was a child, my sister and I would fly to Florida to see my grandparents or to Michigan to see my father, and I was never afraid of flying. In fact, it was fun and exciting...

Much is possible if we don't give up (08/22/08)
At my weigh-in two weeks ago, I weighed 231 for the second week in a row. Last week, I did Zumba on Saturday, hiked five miles on Sunday, and did Zumba again on Monday and then on Tuesday. On top of that, I walked a mile on two separate mornings before getting ready for work...

I was busted with contraband at the Rotary Club (08/15/08)
I really enjoyed visiting the Shelbyville Noon Rotary meeting Thursday, except for the fact that I got busted with contraband. As soon as I walked through the door, one of the Rotarians I met mentioned this column, saying she reads it every week. I've been getting a lot of that lately, which is a good thing...

If I could just listen to that 'still, small voice' more often (08/08/08)
I'm not a Buddhist, but I have read some books by the Dalai Lama (Tibet's exiled temporal and spiritual leader), and he makes some good points. He is a very wise and compassionate man, and all of us, Christians or not, could learn from his teachings...

Always save something to throw back in (08/01/08)
I've never had to pull my water from a well, but my mom did. She told me one time she would always have to leave a little water in the bottom of the bucket to throw back. If she didn't, the well would remain dry. If she returned that little bit of water, more would begin to flow...

How the county fair solved all my problems (07/25/08)
Talk about a gut check; I had one Wednesday night at the Bedford County Fair. The week was not even halfway over, and it had already been a particularly busy one for me -- one that stood out among a crowd of busy weeks. Even when I'm not at work, I have a tendency to think about work...

Instant gratification is challenge to weight loss (07/14/08)
A little more than two weeks ago, I set some goals for becoming more healthy, and documented them in the first installment of this "Gut Check" column. My goals include regular exercise and a sensible diet, with added focus on the spiritual and mental challenges involved with this major lifestyle change...

Fat guy gets off duff, with help from above (06/27/08)
If you're looking for expert advice on how to lose weight or get healthy, read no further. If you're interested in exploring the trials and tribulations of an average fat guy trying to lose weight, please continue. Throughout my childhood, I was a picky eater and a scrawny kid bursting with energy. They didn't have the term ADHD back then, but I'm sure that if I were a child today, somebody would suggest pumping me full of Ritalin...

Gut Check
John Philleo