Dear Ace: We’ve got a medical school and a massage school, but where around here can I learn to become a chiropractor?—Crooked-Condition-in-Charlottesville You can’t, so Ace hopes the prospect of leaving town for a spell doesn’t get you too bent out of shape. Or twisted up inside. Or feeling a pain in your neck. Meaning, […]

Four words, Ace: Cat on a leash. What the hell?—Militant-Cat-Harness-Abolitionist-in-Charlottesville Okay, Grizabella, but some people like to walk their cats instead of letting them grow fat and sedate in front of the television. The world is hard and cruel, and Ace for one doesn’t want some texting-with-one-hand minivan driver sending Ol’ Moses to the Heaviside […]

December arrives, and thereby the onset of my discontented literary winter approacheth. Well, not “discontented” so much as “lacking content,” verily. Lacking inspiration, space wherein to work, and desperately needful of coaching and critique: What is a would-be writer to do, good sir? Very long, my supply of Browning and Milton will last not.—O. Veritten […]

Dear Ace: Is it true that the federal government is using Social Security to fund free cellular phone service for welfare recipients?—Not-Expecting-Ever-to-Retire-in-Charlottesville Factcheck.org addresses your question in a recent post titled “The Obama Phone?” that debunks allegations made in one of those pernicious chain e-mails—you know, the kind with big blocky text in primary colors, […]

Dear Ace: MySpace is played out, Facebook is getting there, and I’m ready to set up a new circle of on-the-Internet friends. Who are some of the most prevalent Tweeters in Charlottesville, and how do I become one of them?—Twit-Or-Miss-in-Charlottesville There are a number of ways to connect with the Charlottesville Twitterati. One is through […]

Ace, this state is giving me geographical vertigo. Why is it that North Garden is located along Rte. 29 South? Why not call it “South Garden?” And what is it north of?—Carter Graffer Do you really want to go there, Carter? And by “there,” Ace doesn’t mean down to lovely North Garden, with its verdant […]

I never thought I’d have to choose between cinema and the stage, but the Virginia Film Festival is throwing its big closing night bash at X-Lounge on the same night that Live Arts is hosting its Gala & AfterGlow party. What’s up with that, Ace? And which one will you be attending?—Nicky Lodian You might […]

Ace, I’m leaf-peeping along 64W, and I’m presented with a difficult choice. I can turn left, and head south along the Blue Ridge Parkway for free. So why is it that, if I turn right, I have to shell out $15 to enter the Shenandoah National Park, for basically the same scenery? What exactly am […]

Dear Ace: The fall is here, and the leaves are starting to turn. It‘s putting me in a real circle-of-life, survival-of-the-fittest kind of mood. Ace, what is the most prevalent tree in Virginia? I want to plant one in my yard, to teach my sons how to be stronger and more prolific than their rivals.—Eugene […]

Ace, I’ve got a few questions about that Three Notch’d Road historical marker on the east end of the Pedestrian Mall. First, what are the notches? Second, where did the road go? Lastly, who the heck was Jack Jouett, and what “famous ride” of his does the sign refer to?—Scratch’d-Head’d in Charlottesville Listen, my friend, […]