and this on 4/20 you’re not alone

PSA: I imagine many of my followers know the story of the pallets of cash, but for those who don’t:

Before the Iranian revolution, Iran was run by the Shah, who had TONS of money and a virtually unlimited appetite for US military hardware, including big things like aircraft etc.

Has it dawned on Trump that RFK and his coterie are anything but popular?

Everything you need to know about me is not only would I let the duck in but I would also take down the sign and also start carrying meal worms in a bag with me now that I know this is a possibility.

Hers already contained plenty of...well, margarine

This is reminding me of when my mom would make biscuits (WV Style, whatever that is, I would imagine) and we would have them for desert, split, with honey on them, and it was divine.

starting right off with a narrower version of “noblesse oblige” was...something

As a casual writer thinking about becoming a bit more serious about it, this really drives something home to me.

oof.

Americans think that because they MUST* drive it absolves them of responsibility to avoid harm to others. This is a microcosm of almost everything wrong with our society.**

*of course it could be different, but path dependence...

**context: my wife was severely disabled by a careless driver

A few hours later.

29 years to the day from the time we planned a big party with band and catering and a nor’easter dumped 3' or more of heavy snow on us and that was that. At least this isn’t that.

new snow on budded branches of lilac tree, evergreens in the background with dusting of snow

Yesterday it was 76º

Thinking about my childhood transition from assuming that the names of things and places and ideas and the meaning of words were set by God or some earthly Authority, to realizing they evolve and are defined by conventions formed socially. I still remember the disorientation!

Same.

I also love that they think there’s nothing for men that’s not boxers or a thong

Old-time print-maker sez check it out. The materials we used to use are hazardous* and gone now I think, so I couldn’t give good advice. But it’s relatively simple and cheap to do.

*xylol, peroxide, oil-based inks, etc—I think everything is water-based now. Are there water-based glass paints now?

I’m wondering about silk-screen printing, although getting the ink to the right consistency would be tricky.

Or have Saturday crosswords gotten a lot easier?
[Don’t tell me]

That kind of unexpected combination of contrasting color and texture and style is one of my favorite things in art. That’s very cool.

“Congratulations! You solved a Saturday Crossword in 28:29”

Despite it all, I recently resubscribed to the NYT after several years, and I have to say I do feel better about that decision and myself because it has reassured me that I still haven’t lost my most treasured skill. Also, today’s “shadow docket” story.

Funny, I took driver’s ed like over 60 years ago and I remember the warning to hit the brakes if you spot a ball rolling in or toward the roadway. BEFORE you see the child chasing it.

It is the solidly the DRIVERS’s responsibility to drive at safe speeds and pay enough attention to avoid this.

Our first house, a duplex with rental income we bought in 1974, cost the equivalent of about $206,000 now. The latest county average SFH is about a half-million now.

I just thought it looked like he vibe-coded a haircut robot. But n.b. I know nothing about cutting hair [or coding].

photo of Musk with weird haircut

Not too sure about that example, though

screenshot from linked post with “actors use the financial system to extract value from society rather than to contribute to it” highlighed

bsky.app/profile/basi...

I don’t know whether UBI is the true answer to wealth inequality; I tend to think a simplified & very progressive tax structure to pay for universal health care and free education and a solid minimum wage would be better. But the highlighted phrase is succinct and correct.

Peak Tapper, here

I’m so Boomer it came as a mild surprise to me that these are GenX traits too.

I wonder whether Cedar Waxwings have a unique genetic predilection for alcohol, or if it’s just bird culture and they’re the species that happened to discover and pass on the joys of getting smashed. Do others do this?

One of the delights of my many years working in downtown Burlington was the annual frat party they held in the trees outside the Fletcher Free Library.

My 13YO grandkid delivered an impassioned and uninterruptable several-minute anti-AI monologue on the phone with me last week. Covered just about everything I think is bad about it. Made me really proud.