a blog about ratiocinations out of thin air and elsewhere
First, they came for the black-spotted newts but I did not speak out because I was not a black-spotted newt.
Then they came for the spotted owls but I did not speak out because I was not a spotted owl.
Then they came for the butterflies but I did not speak out because I was not a butterfly. READ MORE
NORMAN LEAR IS BACK ON TOP! It started on May 22, 2019, when ABC television broadcast “Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All In The Family And The Jeffersons.” The show consisted of live “recreations” of two episodes from the original “All In The Family” and “The Jeffersons” from the 1970s. READ MORE
MY FORMER BEST BUDDY has taken up a political-social-personal position about three feet to the right of President Trump. Whereas we used to talk almost daily about music and movies and girls and what the hell really happened on 9/11, our relationship is now basically him sending me an occasional email that insults me in particular or liberals in general. READ MORE
LIKE MILLIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE, we enjoyed the 1996 movie Independence Day. When it was released, we heard nothing but good things so we splurged and sprang for a pair of tickets—a big deal for two old farts who remember seeing Saturday matinees for a quarter—and saw it on the big screen. READ MORE
WHEN I WAKE IN THE MORNING, the first thing I do is make a mug of Cafe Bustelo coffee. I don’t wake up with my brain/mind functioning at 95 percent as I used to—more like 75 percent. As I sip my coffee, I warm up the ol’ ratiocinator for the day’s writing by perusing Quora and answering a few questions. READ MORE
IT’S QUORA QUESTION TIME AGAIN. This time the question was about the Creator: “Why do people tend to blame God for the bad but never give him credit for the good?” Even though my experience with my fellow human beings who are believers is the exact opposite of that, I couldn’t resist livening up Quora with an answer:
God drops by my house once a month to play Cinch with me and a couple of my neighbors from Pennsylvania. READ MORE
IF I GAVE A DAMN about the personal lives of actors and artists—if I let the things they say and do keep me from their accomplishments—I might not have any books to read, any records to hear, any movies to see. Thankfully, Wholly Grommett in His Finite Wisdom did not create me that way: I don’t give a damn about the personal lives of these people (unless, of course, they’re monsters of some sort). READ MORE
IF YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE FOR PUBLICATION, you need access to at least one English language grammar and usage stylebook. No matter how good a writer you may be, no matter how much experience you may have, you will use that book frequently. (Unless you have a photographic memory). READ MORE
I WORKED ON THIS PIECE FOR A WEEK! I intended to publish it on August 15, 2019, the first day of the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. But no matter what I wrote or how I wrote it, either I came out sounding far more conceited than I was in 1969 (ah, but I was so much older then) or the whole thing came out sounding like a sappy Hallmark movie. READ MORE