grin and bare it
A blog by Matthew Dicks
Pancakes and a geometry lesson
Before breakfast arrived yesterday morning, my daughter and I engaged in a geometry lesson. She can identify circles, hearts, squares and triangles. She’s a big fan of triangles. I love the look of concentration on…
Read MoreRelax, lady. It’s a picture book and it’s funny.
You have probably heard about the new book GO THE F***K TO SLEEP. If not, it is a New York Times bestselling picture book written for adults that plays on the frustration that some parents…
Read MoreCheerio on board
My daughter fell asleep in the midst of eating Cheerios. There was a Cheerio in her little fingers when she nodded off, and when my wife woke her, her arm instantly continued its ascent to…
Read MoreGet a second job.
The Times published a piece about the need for people in this economy to have more than one job. The lead reads: When someone asks Roger Fierro “What do you do?” — which he knows…
Read MoreGirl at fence
Years from now, my daughter will ask: “What was I gazing at, Daddy, with such earnestness? A towering mountaintop? A raging river? A brilliant sunset? An unpredictable, albeit bright, future.” And I will say: “No,…
Read MoreI can make even the most hardened FBI agent crazy
The members of the Westboro Baptist Church—the lunatic fringe group that pickets soldiers’ funerals with hate speech— was invited to Quantico Marine Base in Virginia to assist in training agents on how to stay calm when…
Read MoreResolution update: June 2011
1. Lose 23 pounds, bringing me down to my high school track and field weight. Down fourteen pounds since the beginning of the year. Nine to go. Even my doctor noticed my weight loss at…
Read MoreRevising seventeenth century essayists for the better
My friend, Shep, sent me this quote, which he liked a lot: Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think. -Jean de la Bruyere, essayist and moralist (1645-1696)…
Read MoreOur own little sweatshop
While I was mowing the lawn, my wife made a skirt for my daughter. A skirt. Sure, it takes a long time to write a novel, and it requires a modicum of creativity and skill. …
Read MoreOnce is fine. But this is a pattern of stupidity.
I’m almost finished reading Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN. Amongst the many controversies cited in the book is Jemele Hill’s regrettable reference to Hitler in a 2008 editorial about…
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