How many retired English professors does it take to change a lightbulb?
The problem: the dome/globe hiding the dead bulb would not budge. The solution: tap the dome with a shoe, many, many times.
Current events
I am thinking of every post right now as a flight from current events. Those events are always on my mind. But I have no special insight into them.
Cogito
I overthink, or at least I think I do; therefore, I am.
Cinnamon toast and orange juice
This news item strikes me as a respite from other news.
“But” speaks
Alexandra Petri, writing in The Washington Post (gift link): “The word ‘But’ asks that it not appear in these sentences.”
“Hi, Papa”
I’m seen as a grandfather type.
Thirty-nine
An anniversary.
The rules
From a pre-school.
Recently updated
The real source of an odious odor.
The case of the odious odor
A godawful chemical smell was coming from the cabinet under the kitchen sink. What the deuce?
Sad songs
“Sad songs, that was life”: Rita Forrester, granddaughter of A.P. and Sara Carter of the Carter Family.
The plumber’s reward
A month or so after replacing the toilet fill valve in our upstairs bathroom, I replaced the valve in our downstairs bathroom — fifteen minutes or so of awkward work that means a quicker fill and a farewell to the bizarre float ball that always ends up needing adjustment. The bottle of A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ was my self-chosen reward.
“The stuff that was good”
Shahid Kamal Ahmad, game developer, interviewed on the podcast Mac Power Users: Shahid Kamal Ahmad, game developer: “It’s a short life. We’re not kids anymore. But we forget so much of the good, and it’s just the way we’re primed. Evolution rewards us for remembering that which screwed us up. It does not reward us for remembering the stuff that was good.”
Kindness as intelligence
J.B. Pritzker, governor of Illinois, in a commencement address at Northwestern University, June 12, 2023: “Over my many years in politics and business, I have found one thing to be universally true: the kindest person in the room is often the smartest.”
Aircut
George Bodmer’s Oscar’s Day: “You shouldn’t be able to cut the air.”
Top of the muffin
An unexpected pleasant moment in the day.
Still obvious after all these years
I, an academic?
Eleven at ninety
“I feel like I’m eleven!” says Carol Burnett, who turns ninety tomorrow.
Goodbye to car words
“Did you see that guy? What an inconsiderate driver.”
System of laundry
Folding with Lassie, storing with the English Beat.
Expectations
Maya Angelou, interviewed on Desert Island Discs.
Jury doody
“Over 100 people are calling this number, so you may experience busy signals,” the summons said. “Please be patient and try again.”
“No mother”
“No mother, no mother — no mother — should go through what I’m going through right now”: RowVaughn Wells.
“Eccentric adventures”
Steve Young: ”Life can be so rich and wonderful when we step off the logical path and embark on eccentric adventures.”
Three passages from Michelle Obama
“Any time your circumstances start to feel all-consuming, I suggest you try going in the other direction — toward the small.”
Opening night
Neil Diamond sings.
Still life with wife
I woke up first and made a sketch.
Reaching out
This morning I have had a president, a vice president, and an undefeated former president reach out to me, one of them “personally reaching out.”
Coronation with Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin playing in the dentist’s office as my tooth gets a crown.
Little rituals
In New York Times, readers share rituals that keep them going.