"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
In the news
A friend wrote the other day and asked me if I’d ever read anything by Stuart Archer Cohen. I fear for my friend’s mind, because just two years ago … on her recommendation … I read Cohen’s The Army of the Republic and sent her a copy of my brief review, which I’ll repost here: […]
We were with friends at a party last night and talk turned to the Casey Anthony trial (which I haven’t followed and have no intention of discussing). My daughter said something about bread and circuses and suggested we should be more concerned about the 23,000 laid-off state workers in Minnesota. It quickly emerged that some […]
Our son Gregory arrived late Wednesday evening. He’ll stay here with our grandson Quentin until Wednesday, when they drive home to Las Vegas. We had a great few days with Quentin, but now we can turn the keep-the-eight-year-old-entertained duties to Greg. Later today we three lads will visit Hooters for the traditional photo op; tonight […]
The church ladies are restless. I’m sure this has something to do with NBC’s silly decision to edit out the words “under God” from an airing of the pledge of allegiance during a golf tournament last week. Reaction on the right was immediate and harsh, and now the AOL uncles are forwarding shit like this. […]
From the Things that Are Hard to Understand files: You are not allowed to set off fireworks in Tucson, Arizona. Not even sparklers. Yet every summer the city council allows fireworks vendors to set up tents on parking lots all over town. As I write, with the 4th of July less than a fortnight away, […]
Well, that’s done. Your humble correspondent is the newest certified walking tour docent at the Pima Air & Space Museum. My certification tour yesterday went pretty well, except for the part where I blanked on who won the toss for first flight, Orville or Wilbur, but I finessed it by simply saying “they took turns” […]
Tomorrow morning I’ll guide another walking tour group through the Pima Air & Space Museum. It’ll be a red-letter day: the docent team leader and volunteer supervisor will evaluate my skills; if I do well I’ll become the museum’s newest certified walking tour docent. As you might imagine, boning up is the order of the […]