You learn something new every day. Today I learned never to order quinoa salad for lunch. My wife claims she was born with this knowledge. She ordered a turkey sandwich. And I’m still hungry. Quinoa is one of those superfoods that are supposed to have wondrous properties like anti-inflammatory phytonutrients and antioxidants that promote health … More It’s a Racket
“The Biblical literalists have moved from the center of Flat Earth belief to its fringe, and their place has been taken by believers in conspiracy theories and alternate science. 21st century Flat Earthers are less likely to recite Bible verses and more likely to oppose vaccination, to charge that 9/11 was an inside job, and … More Quote of the Day
I had a heart attack in 2008, so naturally I have a cardiologist I see for annual checkups. On one of my first visits to my cardiologist, he assured me, to my great relief, that moderate drinking is permissible for me. For a man, moderate drinking is defined as two drinks at any one drinking … More The Watchful Eye of the Cardiologist
“But the disposition to disagree, to reject and to dissent – however irritating it may be when taken to extremes – is the very lifeblood of an open society. We need people who make a virtue of opposing mainstream opinion. A democracy of permanent consensus will not long remain a democracy.” ― Tony Judt, Ill … More Quote of the Day
Years ago we were invited to our friend Sally’s house for a Christmas get-together of hot mulled wine and snacks. She met us at the door with a piece of blood-stained paper towel wrapped around one hand and holding sauce pan in the other. “Hi, Come in.” “Have you injured your hand?” “Oh, it’s just … More My Brief Brush With Entrepreneurship
“Ce qu’on ne peut pas dire, il ne faut surtout pas le taire, mais l’écrire.”–Jacques Derrida
I seem to be consistently wrong about almost everything. I have been wrong about Donald Trump at every stage of his ascent. When Trump first started to make real headway in his quest for the Republican nomination, I compared his appeal to the Republican base to the delight some people take in smelling their own … More On Being Wrong
“El ajedrez es uno de los medios que tenemos para salvar la cultura, como el latín, el estudio de las humanidades, la lectura de los clásicos, las leyes de la versificación, la ética. El ajedrez es hoy reemplazado por el fútbol, el boxeo o el tenis, que son juegos de insensatos, no de intelectuales.”–Jorge Luis … More Quote of the day
“Another bad habit of self-conscious writing is the prissy use of quotation marks–sometimes called shudder quotes or scare quotes–to distance the writer from a common idiom. . . . The use of shudder quotes is taken to an extreme in the agonizingly self-conscious, defiantly un-classic style of postmodernism, which rejects the possibility that any word … More Quote of the Day
Probably the most agonizing thing I have ever done is give up smoking. Throughout the 1970s and 80s my wife and I were avid smokers of at least a pack of cigarettes a day each, and I also smoked a pipe. I think I once tried to give up both by switching to cigars. We … More Quitting
No Harm Spilt 