An accurate depiction of USian (i.e., “American”) history by R Crumb, with music and lyrics by Joni Mitchell (who is also American, because she is Canadian, which is part of America).
Posts contained in the “Modern Life” category:
Items from my life, and therefore, completely boring.
About all those self-help books you’ve been meaning to read…
I was going through some old files, and I found this in a journal entry from ten years ago: Ten years later, and I’m pretty much convinced that most of them are 5% common sense and 95% made-up bullshit about that little bit of common sense. To be fair, I guess this is to be …read more…
Consider January…
Adult me has always detested January. After three solid months of prepping for and celebrating holidays (Hallowe’en, Thanksgiving, Christmas), January is just boring. There are no big holidays that you celebrate with friends or family, the days are short and cold, the skies are always a formless grey, filled with a blanket of shapeless clouds. …read more…
When you are…
I don’t know where this originally came from. I found it the other day when I was clearing out some papers in my office. When you are alone, mind your thoughts. When you are with friends, mind your tongue. When you are angry, mind your temper. When you are with a group, mind your behavior. …read more…
How to Translate Business Emails
The business world has its own weird way of communicating. It likes jargon and coded language. But never fear! Here is a translation of some of the most common phrases and expressions you’re likely to see in an email. “Thanks in advance” — Get this done by the time I hit “send”. “Thanks for your …read more…
Cousin by Wilco
Wilco is one of those bands that has always been running in the background of my life. I’m aware of them, I like their music, but I’ve never been a huge fan. I don’t know why, really. Not enough time? Not enough energy? (Okay, there are reasons for this that I will talk about at …read more…
broken…lost…free
One of my earliest memories of television is watching an old episode of Leave it to Beaver where Ward is replacing the plug on the family toaster. We used to repair things. We used to be able to repair a lot of things ourselves. Another early memory of television: our old console television set went on …read more…
Journals, Part Three
It’s been two years (and a bit) since I last talked about my journaling process. Not much has changed really. I usually use a 70-page wide-ruled notebook. When I was teaching, I would stock up on these during the summer back-to-school sales when you could get six or seven for a dollar. I still have …read more…
Literally everything you need to know about conspiracy theories
You’re welcome.
Precepts to Live by
What follows are some good ideas I’ve picked up over the years. I doubt that all of them are applicable in all situations (except perhaps for the first five), so treat them like salt and pepper: use them when you need them. Use your words. People aren’t mind readers. “No” is a complete sentence. When …read more…
Need to Press Paws
I have recently found out that Not Always Right (as in “the customer is not always right”) is a delightful way to spend a few hours. Originally dedicated to tales from The Retail Wars, it later expanded to include stories about people being absolutely awesome (such as the story about the child who had never …read more…
A few thoughts on the dumpster fire that is capitalism…part 2
Capitalism means I get charged $125 to cancel a $200 ticket by an airline that’s getting bailed out with my taxpayer money. — Laila Lalami (@LailaLalami) April 3, 2020 And what the hell, let’s toss one in for the ammosexuals:
This is beautiful
I’ve always loved Def Leppard and was beyond happy that they were (finally!) inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. I couldn’t be there, but this acceptance speech is one of the best I’ve ever heard: The look on Rick Allen’s face when the crowd gives him a standing ovation is …read more…
