First, thumb through some pages...

What is this guy?

He is somebody with a sense of humor - ribald, too - out of self-defense.

This singular editing/writing journalist faced demanding deadlines every day of the year by way of self-imposed goals.

Getting the stories right requires discipline and commitment - every day, all day. In moments in between, words never leave him. They become his playground.

Original puns, jokes, pithy observations, silly commentary, astute or cute philosophy, corniness, childishness, complexity, the ribald, surprise, and a certain twisted joy arrive as if from vapors.

Some of the output is dead-on adult, with no filter.

The sweep of the many hundreds of "quips" is like stuff from one of the lippy kids in the back row.

The writer's overactive mind has an alter ego, too. James the Great appears with pearls of wisdom or sharp comment on the ways of world.

Some entries are easily understood, and some require a thinking cap that reveals the scope of the author's editing and writing territory.

The image on the book's cover sets the plate: All you need to know to communicate is the alphabet and 10 numbers. Ohhhhh!