September 2008
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As far as I know, there have been exactly zero scientific studies of directional dyslexia. As a consequence, all of our knowledge is anecdotal. No one can say for certain whether the condition is inherited or acquired, or whether it’s more (or less) common among women, southpaws, redheads, eastern Europeans, bad spellers, or chocoholics. "Common…
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I watched a part of the Couric-Palin interview (all I could stand). For me, it was a deja vu experience. Took me back to the days when I examined students who had missed most of the classes and hadn’t done much of the reading but had the effrontery to see if they could bullshit their…
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Stepping westward, we left St. Louis behind and detoured northward to enjoy scenic Route 79 to Hannibal. Well worth it –lovely, well-cultivated bottom land and wonderful vistas from the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi. We toured Louisiana, an old river town where a handful of century-old mercantile buildings are hanging on precariously, waiting to be redeployed…
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TV-free for more than three months, we stayed last night at a motel in Frackville, Pennsylvania and couldn’t resist taking a gander at the tube. I was shocked to see how artificial and contrived it all seemed. The actors were not real people, nor were they actors pretending to be real people. They were actors…
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Regular correspondent Otis Jefferson Brown inquires whether, in lieu of the precedent by which Sarah Palin claims expertise in foreign affairs because she can almost see Russian from Alaska, he is now a rocket scientist because, through his bedroom window, he can, on starry nights, see the moon. Otis, I’m sorry to say, does not…
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Sarah Palin is like Jesse Ventura; she’s a "novelty" governor. Every once in a while, Americans like to stick it to the pols by electing an amateur. It shakes things up for a while. Sarah Palin is a joke, but now McCain has endangered our beloved nation by taking her seriously. Here’s a scenario: McCain…
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Cathy: "We have a Cochin. She’s beautiful. Her feathers are an iridescent black. With Cochins, the feathers cover the entire leg. She’s a pet, part of the family. She’s four years old and must weigh seven pounds. But just lately she developed some sort of neurological disease. She would quiver, shake, sometimes her wings, sometimes…
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What, exactly, is a drag? Here’s a sentence from Kate Chopin’s edgy (in a Victorian way) 1899 novel, The Awakening. "Alcee Arobin and Mrs. Highcamp called for Mrs. Pontellier one bright afternoon in Arobin’s drag." A drag? Could it be "a large four-horse coach with seats inside and on top." O my gosh! It’s still…