Thomas 'Sonny' Garrett profile picture

Thomas 'Sonny' Garrett

Just another guy from the hills.

About Me

Hi, I'm Thomas "Sonny" Garrett, AKA Sonny Garrett and sometimes "Sonny G." I live in Mountain Home, Arkansas, in he heart of the Ozarks where I'm a jack-of-all-trades at The Baxter Bulletin -- editorial page editor and writer, senior writer, entertainment editor, "community conversation desk" manager (that has to do with our online work) and all-around cook and bottle washer.I'm also at work on a collection of my newspaper columns, "Odds & Ends." I've written a weekly column since 1983 (before a lot of MySpacers were even gleams in their parents' eyes), and I've been gathering up the better ones for a book, or two, or three ... I also have other book ideas in various stages, ranging from scenes and notes to ideas filed in the back of my head. (Talk about a cluttered place.)I'm married, have a 21-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter (Kim and I didn't get in a hurry expanding our family.) On the whole, life is good 99 percent of the time. The other 1 percent is what makes it challenging and an adventure.

My Interests

Writing, reading, photography,cooking and food, the outdoors, camping (when I can), travel, movies, TV, music, live music and shows, just having fun.

I'd like to meet:

Oh, Jimmy Buffett, Clive Cussler, Gordon Ramsay, Angelina Jolie, Robin Williams, Louis L'Amour (if he were alive), Johnny Depp, Jerry Bruckheimer (just to find out how he does it all), John Wayne (if he were alive), Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, Stephen King, just to name a few

Music:

Everything (except opera, at least the vocal part -- I like the orchestral music -- and most hip-hop; it all sounds the same). I particularly like country, Southern rock, blues (you can tell by some of the friend connections)-- especially female blues singers who have really big voices (I like women's voices, not little girl voices)-- movie music, folk and Celtic (which can make you want to cry and dance at the same time). I like listening to local performers and those talented folks who haven't made the "big time" but sound better than those who have.

Movies:

There's not enough space to name them all. Forrest Gump, Casablanca, Titanic, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Magnificent Seven, Tombstone, The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of Sierra Madre, all the Indiana Jones and Star Wars movies, anything with lots of action, adventure and witty dialogue. I like comedies, even some musicals. I'll even watch chick flicks.I also have guilty pleasures, such as Kill Bill, From Dusk to Dawn, Andy Sidaris movies, lots of B-movies and videos, the kind that usually go straight to DVD then to cable (often Cinemax), then to the five-for-$5 bin.

Television:

The Food Network, all CSIs, Criminal Minds, Bones, Two and a Half Men, American Idol, My Name is Earl, Survivor, Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, MASH and -- surprise - 7th Heaven and Days of our Lives.

Books:

Again, almost anything. Cussler, Clancy, L'Amour, Bernard Cornwell, Matthew Reilly, Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway, Richard A. Knaak. I have a weakness for adventure stories, fast-paced novels, historical novels as well as nonfiction. I also like Dan Jenkins and comic novels, and I enjoy reading the works by the folks at Authors Den. I adore old pulp stories, too. You'd be surprised how much of that stuff carries over into today's books, movies and TV... to HTML for AuthorsDen.com --
Where authors and readers come together!

Heroes:

My Dad and Mom. There are lots of folks I admire, but few I'd call my hero.

My Blog

Support your local arts (and artists)

Last week, I wrote a column about supporting local musicians, writers and other artists. I mentioned some by name, including the names of a few writers. Little did I know that it would create a dust...
Posted by Thomas 'Sonny' Garrett on Thu, 08 Feb 2007 07:21:00 PST

Idols? They barely qualify as sacrifices

Like a record number of idle Americans, I watched the start of this season's "American Idol." I know, I should have been watching something else, something more uplifting, something like Fox News or C...
Posted by Thomas 'Sonny' Garrett on Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:20:00 PST

When overexposed celebrities attack

I've been trying to come up with a reality TV show that would pit Rosie O'Donnell, Donald Trump and Barbara Walters against one another. Based on the air time given this ever-growing feud between The ...
Posted by Thomas 'Sonny' Garrett on Wed, 10 Jan 2007 05:32:00 PST