rationality out of thin air (and elsewhere)
A SUGGESTION MADE TO ME by one of the few early readers of this blog (a friend, natch) that I explain exactly what a “rant” is. That was brought on by my having two categories on this website with that word in their title: “Neal’s Rants (Really Political” and “Neal’s Rants (Not-So-Political).” [Read more] “a neal defines rant post”
I TOOK BERNI to her morning coffee at a nearby Starbucks she wakes up five days a week with that place’s caffeine and a book before going to work. On the way back home, I drove past a local chain restaurant. Their sign advertised the following:
Now, if English is your native language, your brain registers exactly what the sign-maker intended: that they are offering a lunch special for five dollars. [Read more] “what’s a “buck lunch”? (or, whats a buck lunch)”
I STARTED WRITING when I was in grade school. Recently, a classmate of my brother’s found a copy of a “newspaper” that Chester Street Elementary School published in 1964. In it was a one paragraph article by my brother followed by a three paragraph “article” by me. It summed up oh so briefly the Philadelphia Phillies’ phenomenal rookie, Richie Allen. [Read more] “a stickler for rules (at least for grammar)”
NIGH ON TEN YEARS AGO, I had a job in Seattle: I was a telemarketer for the 5th Avenue Theatre. It was one of two main venues for Broadway-style musicals, a genre that had left me less than moved my entire life. My job entailed calling basically anyone who had purchased a ticket to at least one show with a credit card and tried to sell them a season subscription (there were six shows per season). [Read more] “the origin of neals rants”