Degas and the dancers
[Hat tip: Open Blogger at Ace’s.] When I was a child I used to greatly admire Degas’ dancer paintings. My family had a reproduction of one of them, and I used to study it and marvel at how well it … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Me, myself, and I
Crater Lake, crater lakes
I recently went on a trip to Crater Lake in Oregon. I’ve been there before, and each time I’ve been impressed by its transcendent beauty and other-worldliness, and fascinated by its history. The lake, in case you don’t know, is … Continue reading →
Taking Trump seriously
There’s a lot of talk lately about how everyone was predicting Trump would go nowhere—except, of course, his fervent supporters, who believed almost from the start that he could win the nomination. Looking back, my recollection was that at the … Continue reading →
Death by GPS
Here’s a description of how reliance on our GPS sytems can steer us terribly wrong, in the literal sense. Beware. The phenomenon of people automatically following their GPS’s directions is something I’ve noticed many times even in myself. We get … Continue reading →
Apple stickers
You know those little stickers on the apples? I love them. Whoever invented them was a genius, and I thank him/her profusely. I like sampling different kinds of apples: one from column A, one from column B, and on and … Continue reading →
I ♥ Richard Thompson
I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again—I love this guy. Been to about ten concerts, which is ten more than I’ve gone to for almost every other singer, even ones I like. You can get a taste … Continue reading →
When do you need a tetanus booster?
I have to say this is not a question I’ve thought about in recent decades: do you need a tetanus booster every 10 years or will every 30 suffice? Evidence now indicates that 30-year intervals might do nicely, but I … Continue reading →
Clearing the underbrush on the blog
I just got a huge political post off my chest, and that means I’m tired of writing about politics today. So if you want to read about why Lewandowski won’t be prosecuted (in my opinion, because the battery was a … Continue reading →
Exercises: can anyone explain this phenomenon?
For many years—decades, actually, ever since I hurt my back and arms about 25 years ago—I’ve done a series of exercises before I go to sleep. Perhaps “exercises” is too strong a word, because they’re not strenuous. They’re more like … Continue reading →
Last leaves
I don’t usually write about my dreams, but last night I had one that was so vivid I feel the need to do so. And no, it wasn’t about politics. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve either dreamed less or remembered … Continue reading →
From two sneezes to one
For as long as I can remember, when I’ve sneezed it’s always been at least twice. I’m not alone in that, not by a longshot: Sneezes never seem to be lonely. As soon as you expel your first mighty “achoo,” … Continue reading →
My cartoon/schema dyslexia
I’m not sure what to call it, but I’ve written about it before at some length: I have trouble understanding cartoons that are completely visual, particularly those that are told in more than one square. Here’s an excerpt from that … Continue reading →