I’m traveling through southern Virginia these days, among other things enjoying cheap prices and little traffic.
This is real America, that 97 percent of the country outside the few bubbles that make the news and where I spend 97 percent of my time.
When Trump wins in November I’m going to remember this and not be surprised.
To fully celebrate the 2024 Paris Olympics, Franklin and I compete in a few “summer games” ourselves on today’s episode of Math and Musings.
Topics include swimming, barbecues, and gummy candies in the shape of army men.
It makes sense in context.
When I was a kid and the power went out it was mildly annoying.
In 2024, though, when that tantalizing Internet (and the useless things like lights and refrigerators) are unavailable, somehow I can’t even function.
My students often ask me how I possibly survived in an era without cellphones and Wi-Fi.
Honestly I have no idea.
Most of the athletes are closer to my son’s age than my own.
Most of the sports I haven’t thought about since 2021.
When they show celebrities in the crowd it’s only 50-50 that I actually know who they are.
But I haven’t turned the Olympics off my television since Friday.
It’s damn good TV.
And also I’m worried that if I turned it off I’d never be able to figure out how to find it again.
Paris 2024 Olympic Ceremonies are tonight, and we’ve got you covered at Math and Musings. On today’s episode I quiz Franklin with some Olympic trivia, then he turns the tables on me as well.
Luckily both of us are quite good-natured about the whole thing.
Enjoy.
I’ve just finished reading Ellen Jovin’s Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian, one of the more insightful and entertaining books I’ve read in quite some time.
I have but one complaint:
Damn, I wish I’d thought of it first.
Like the Winklevoss twins every time they log into Facebook, or me every time I listen to The Baseball Project, yeah, there’s some admiration there but also some regret. Is it too late to jump on the bandwagon?
Jovin is the self-described “roving grammarian” who has set up shop around the country peddling advice and acting as an expert and/or arbiter in questions of grammar.
Damn I wish I’d thought of that one too.
Her exploits are all there in her book, surprisingly tight for being over 300 pages. It’s Strunk and White for the 21st century, and, so I hear, soon to be dramatized on none other than Netflix.
In the mean time I’m just going to sing its praises and quote the heck out of it everywhere I go.
I like to think life always gives you a second chance, but perhaps the door has now closed on writing the ultimate style guide of spelling, usage, and grammar.
They say we stand on the shoulders of giants. Well, Jovin is the new giant.
When we were students in college, Joe Sullivan and I talked about producing an academic report on what the real reason was every time a politician dropped out of a race. The pol usually gave some version of, I want to spend more time with my family, but Joe and I said that was B.S.
Joe was going to actually dig into the various reasons why, but I said I could come up with only one, the universal true reason:
I thought I was going to lose.
That’s it. And I documented this in September of 2006: the monologue from Live ‘n’ On Q. (Yeah, one that’s not on Spotify but you can probably find it somewhere.)
I don’t have Sullivan around to dig for me but I stand by my position in 2024.
See above.
On today’s episode of Math and Musings my son teaches me a new game, one currently sweeping the Internet. I figure it out pretty quick for an old man, and am able to show the young man a thing or two.
Sort of.
Check out the show for further details.
Home Run Derbies, all-star games, RNC conventions… blah, blah, blah. They all take a back seat to this little gem, discovered yesterday at my local Giant.
Yeah, I went for the impulse merch.
Couldn’t resist… Spicy Dill Pickle Goldfish.
Oreoification strikes again!
It’s impossible to have a forum in this world and not at least note the horrific scene in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday night: an act totally unbecoming any measure of humanity.
I’m just glad that most commenters have said the right thing, that regardless of ideology, this was a heinous deed and one’s thoughts go to families of the victims.
Now… because this blog ain’t really about politics…
Seeing the finals of Wimbledon, Euro 2024, and Copa America the next day was pretty sweet. Doesn’t quite make up for it, but gimme some Home Run Derby tonight and I’ll feel that much better about the world.