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Owen: 2000-2016

I lost a friend yesterday. After a short battle with an indeterminate disease, our cat of died peacefully in our arms yesterday. Owen was an incredibly healthy cat until his final month, and he lived a life filled with love and leisure. Our hearts are aching today. He will be missed. Making this loss doubly difficult…

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A broken lawnmower, a fifth grade boy, and CragsList.com make me wonder if God is real.

Last Saturday I spoke about teaching at a TEDx conference at The Country School in Madison, CT. My talk was about the capacity of students and the importance of expecting more from them on a daily basis. As a part of the talk, I told the story of a former student named Jack Murphy who…

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A question I don’t want my wife to be asked

My son, Charlie, and I were on our way to our first haircut together.  From the back seat, he asked. “Why does the car always drive so much faster when Mommy isn’t in it?” In my defense, we were running late. Also, I we weren’t exceeding the speed limit by an entirely  unreasonable amount.

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Boy vs. Girl: Episode 25 – Income in Dating, Mansplaining, and Tallywackers

In this week’s episode, Rachel and I discuss income as a determining factor in dating, the ridiculousness of mansplaining, and our thoughts on the new restaurant Tallywackers and public nudity. I tell Rachel that her boobs are not very special. It’s great. You can listen here or – better yet – subscribe to our podcast…

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Firemen became firefighters. Penmanship became handwriting. Great. But there’s one gender neutral word I can’t support.

Firemen became firefighters.A serious improvement. I’d rather be a firefighter than a fireman.  Stewardess became flight attendant.Also an improvement.   Policemen became police officer.A solid choice. I’d rather call a police officer for help than a policeman.  Mailman became mail carrier. Fine. More descriptive, even. Penmanship became handwriting.A more modern alternative.   Waiter and waitress became server. I don’t…

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#Biblebuffet

Protip: If you’re using The Bible to justify your opposition to same sex marriage, don’t forget to stone to death any woman engaging in premarital sex. And not just your garden-variety stoning, either. You must gather all the people of the town at the doorstep of the woman’s father and kill her there.  God is…

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Every thing doesn’t need to be a thing

My friend and podcast host Rachel was recently told me about a recommendation she received about the joy of drinking a glass of bourbon while in the shower. This is, of course, a ridiculous idea. And it’s indicative of something that seems to be gaining purchase in society that I would like to publicly take…

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From the mouths of babes…

Clara tells me that she doesn’t like Donald Trump. She says that she heard him say mean things to “a lady named Megyn Kelly” on CBS Sunday Morning. “Megyn asked a question, and Donald Trump started making mean compliments about her.” Then she told me that she doesn’t like Ted Cruz because he’s not nice…

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Opposing Donald Trump while defending one or more of his positions is not doubly odd. It’s called objectivity.

Marlow Stern of The Daily Beast – in writing about Bill Maher’s recent criticism of the charge of battery against’s Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, says:    “Maher’s defense of Lewandowski seemed doubly odd considering his anti-Trump stance during the earlier portions of the program. In his monologue, Maher proudly branded the GOP frontrunner “a bipolar…

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Mike Pesca’s favorite sentences of 2015 (and mine)

Back in January, Mike Pesca of Slate’s The Gist discussed some of his favorite sentences of 2015. When Pesca attributed the sentence to someone., I included the attribution.  Bill Raftery on how he enjoys learning something and immediately sharing it: “That’s why I went into broadcasting rather than espionage.”  “It’s easier to condemn than to…

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