Spring
“What fragrance is that?” “Laundry.”
Orange Crate Art
Lee Konitz (1927–2020)
“Wherever I’m at, I’m happy to have a chance to play.”
लोकः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु
Lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu. It’s Sanskrit.
Sardines everywhere
This week, in The New York Times, Alison Roman explains “How to Make the Most of Those Cans of Sardines.”
Blanchett’s OED
It’s not just Tom Hanks. Cate Blanchett, too, has the twenty-volume second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary on her bookshelves.
“I never learn to learn”
A passage from Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet.
VDP in and on uncharted waters
Van Dyke Parks talked with the Los Angeles Times about life in these uncharted waters.
Radio stars
A headline from today’s New York Times: “Trump Wanted a Radio Show, But Deferred to Rush Limbaugh.”
Total authority
“I’m Gumby, dammit!”
prius starts wont go into gear
An error code in the car’s computer system pointed to a problem with the battery in the key fob.
“Us, the unnoticed”
A passage from Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet.
Mystery actors
I think that two of the three are easy.
Mysterious boxes
A postal relay box in NYC.
Twenty-eight tools
Luke Leighfield, writer, lists twenty-eight tools he uses to get things done.
Making us worse
Tom Nichols, writing in The Atlantic, says that Donald Trump*’s matinee performances are making us worse people.
A first draft of history from TNYT
As efforts to mitigate the effects of this pandemic continue, this administration’s failures must never be forgotten.
Bye, Will
I’ve finally acknowledged that The New York Times crossword puzzle sparks, for me, no joy.
Hanks’s OED
Tom Hanks has the twenty-volume second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary on his bookshelves. As seen on Saturday Night Live tonight.
Today’s Blursday Stumper
“Kitchen remodeling tool.”
“Smart,” “genius,” “very smart”
“The germ has gotten so brilliant that the antibiotic can’t keep up with it.”
Reverence
Donald Trump*’s “HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY.”
Got logic?
Hide the dishonesty, incompetence, misogyny, narcissism, racism, &c. so that he can have four more years in which to put them to use.
Ohio gets it right again
Why you should practice social distancing.
Ohio gets it right
A clear and memorable video about social distancing.
“Speak the truth”
Barack Obama: “The biggest mistake any us can make in these situations is to misinform, particularly when we’re requiring people to make sacrifices and take actions that might not be their natural inclination.”
Wordsmith as a verb
What I think I’m seeing: a noun that gives rise to a gerund that gives rise to a verb.
Proof reading
“I continue to be amazed and amused at the frequency of misspellings, improper punctuation, incorrect use of words and other proof reading errors that seem to plague our print media.”
Distance, literal and figurative
Out for a walk, I talked from a distance with an area man who is ready for things to get back to normal. Well, at least a new normal, I said.
Seige
My Mac’s spellchecker fails to recognize “seige” as a nonword.
Voting in Wisconsin
A first-person account, by Emily Hogstad.