"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
In the news
And with it, spring cleaning here at Paul’s Thing. Although I won’t rule out minor tinkering with site design in the days ahead, I’m happy with the blog’s new look and hope you are too. I was going to say spring has brought us a fresh new war as well, but I see now Trump’s strike […]
Who’d a thunk late-stage capitalism would bring on a new Dark Age by restricting access to information to those who can afford to pay for it?
One of Tucson’s attractions is its abundance of carnicerías, Mexican butcher shops, each with loyal customers who swear by their favorite shop’s hand-made chorizo. We buy our chorizo at Safeway, philistines that we are, but the brand they carry actually does come from a local carnicería, and that’s what we had for breakfast this morning, scrambled with eggs, flour tortillas […]
Having done one or two of these in my day: I think I’m qualified to give a passing grade to Elon Musk and SpaceX on their first attempt at a formation landing. — back to the Air-Minded Index
Thirty-plus years ago, Donna and I decided to drive to Key West for a three-day weekend. We left our house in Tampa in charge of our 19-year-old son, who had just started his first year at USF. While we were away, he threw a party. When things got out of control and his guests began wrecking the […]
Are you watching the state of the union speech tonight? Yeah, me neither. I can’t stand listening to Trump’s unfounded boasts. I can’t stand listening to his schoolyard taunting of anyone not named Putin. I can’t stand listening to him take credit for things another president accomplished, or his constant denigration of that president. I can’t stand listening to him take […]
Last night Donna asked me if I couldn’t see my way clear to working up a little Christmas spirit. Sigh. Millions are affected by holiday season depression. I always thought they were weak, but now I’m ready to admit I have a touch of it myself. It certainly helps explain my seasonal grumpiness, which rarely lifts […]
You may have noticed a trend here toward fewer topical posts. More and more, I write about life, books, and aviation. Two windows are always open on my desktop monitor: one is this blog, the other the draft of the memoir I plug away at. The personal rides shotgun these days; politics and current events ride […]