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LOUD MUSIC in a library?

I’m sitting in the library, pecking away at my manuscript. I’ve just hit my stride when an announcement comes over the intercom warning me that the library will close in fifteen minutes. “Please bring all materials to the front counter for checkout at this time.” Okay. Fine. It’s Friday night. 5:00 seems reasonable. I’m disappointed,…

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Casual dining at 7-11

I just watched a family of five purchase their entire dinner from a 7-11. Not an impoverished, bedraggled family either. A jovial, well-dressed bunch who proceeded to pile into an Audi after making their purchases. Hot dogs, corn dogs, Twinkies, soda, slushies, and a food product that purported to be a burrito. I’m both horrified…

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How to win a Thanksgiving Day argument

John Dickerson wrote an entertaining piece about how to win your Thanksgiving Day fight. Dickerson’s piece centers on politics, which is his field of expertise. On his weekly podcast, he explained that his father would go so far as to assign red and blue cups to his guests in order to identify their political leaning. Brilliant.…

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And now some genuine thanks

Regardless of my inability to give thanks for my greatest blessings, I have many other reasons to give thanks this year that I thought I should mention: 1. My daughter continues to be a blessing in our lives. She is perpetually happy, consistently well behaved, loves school and is learning in leaps and bounds. She…

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Unable to give thanks on this Thanksgiving

One of the problems with being a reluctant atheist is that there is no one to thank for much of my good fortune. I was born a white male in the United States in the late twentieth century. That alone provides me with advantages that billions of people do not enjoy. In the grand scheme…

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You are a stupid person who cannot drive

This evening I was cut off by a woman who clearly did not believe in speed limits, turn signals or the willingness to acknowledge other cars on the road. After managing to position her car in front of mine, I watched as she proceeded to creep forward into the crosswalk of three consecutive intersections while…

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When you are supposed to like it

I listen to Sam Tanenhaus’s New York Times Book Review podcast every week, and as much as you can know a man though a podcast (I also read his biography on Whittaker Chambers about ten years ago when Don Imus was raving about it on his radio show), I like Tanenhaus a lot. But the…

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Better than some actual SNL episodes

Would I still think this is brilliant if I didn’t spend about ten minutes every morning watching Sesame Street with my daughter? I think so. Cookie Monster hosts SNL

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This is disturbing

Perhaps it should be everyone’s goal to one day be the subject of a Chia Pet sculpture. I’ve added it to my list.  Seriously.

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Okay?

A new book entitled OK: The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word, leads me to ask: Which do you prefer? OK? O.K.? Okay? I’m an okay man, myself. I like to avoid ambiguity when it comes to punctuation and those messy periods followed by apostrophes when a word needs to be pluralized or used in…

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