Category Archives: Uncategorized
The East Texas State Fair has instituted a tough “no tobacco” policy. Beginning this year, patrons will literally be searched at the gate, and if they find a pack of cigarettes they will confiscate it. You will be relieved to know that they still allow handguns.
Special
If you could travel back in time and kill Hitler as an infant, would you? I’ve been asked that question before, and my answer is always “It wouldn’t matter.” The question presupposes that Hitler was a remarkable, irreplaceable human being, and I don’t think that’s accurate. I think he was an idiot. And in an …
Crazy
Mona and I saw Crazy Rich Asians in the theater last week. The movie didn’t appeal to me– there were too many people doing too many things, too many wheels inside of wheels– but there was one thing in particular that bothered me. Although they were very careful to avoid any hint of stereotypical Asian …
The Hedonic Treadmill
From Wikipedia: The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.
Tim Hawkins
We went to see comedian Tim Hawkins last weekend, and he was a lot of fun. He’s been labelled as a “Christian comedian,” but don’t let that scare you off. I’m of a different faith, and was still the most I’ve laughed in a long, long time.
It Is Important Not to Know
Lawrence Ferlinghetti on the benefits of travel: Sometimes it is better not to know anything about a country when you visit it. Especially it is important not to know its language or languages. Thus every sound, striking the ear like a small bell or animal cry, without any associative meaning, takes on the immediate quality …
“I was immensely proud that I had been able to give her a comfortable life.”
Recommended by Aw Diddums.
Time
It’s pretty simple to upset the applecart.
Quiet
(It seems kind of odd to have included background music on this one, but they did. Towards the end he’s a little hard to hear.)
Those who cannot remember the past…
Wendell Willkie was the Republican– yes, Republican— nominee for president in 1940: “In the money-mad period of the Twenties the heads of some of our corporations forgot their primary function– that of running a business enterprise in a way that would be sound for the worker, the consumer and the investor. Instead of attending to …
Stephen Hawking
“My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit, as well as physically.” – Stephen Hawking, Interview, New York Times, May 2011 (via) Even though he was arguably the most physically disabled person …
