grin and bare it
A blog by Matthew Dicks
When your mom dies…
On a happier note… You’ve got a pretty good comeback to anyone trying to use a “your momma” joke on you (which I tell my students to never, ever use). Insult: Your momma’s so stupid,…
Read MoreUnanswered questions that will never be answered
When your mother dies, you no longer wish for the courage to confront her about incidents in the past that you’ve never understood or harbored anger over for years and years. These never-dare-uttered indictments become…
Read MoreStuff your sorrys in a sack
It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them. – P. G. Wodehouse (1881 –…
Read MoreQuestionable restroom language
For those of you who don’t pay attention to details, you may have missed the messages that frequently inundate us while using a public restroom. Recently I noticed that Sanor System, a Rochester Midland product,…
Read MoreThe majesty of the combine harvester. Oh, and a legitimately bionic cat, too.
This is one of my daughter’s favorite books. MY FIRST FARM BOARD BOOK And it’s great. It has terrific photographs of cows and pigs and horses and even a big red tractor. Just the kinds…
Read MoreMired in hip-waggling and scat
My wife and I spent the evening listening to one of her former students, now a senior in college, perform with her jazz quartet. I left the bar mystified as to why anyone would want…
Read MoreLacking less-than-vital information
There is a person named Lindsay Lohan and she is going to jail soon. I know that Lindsay Lohan is a famous person, but I do not know why she is famous. As far as…
Read MoreOrgan swapping?
How about this for an idea? Every year thousands of people die waiting for kidney and other organ transplants. It’s tragic considering how many of us have an extra kidney just waiting to be transplanted.…
Read MoreIt’s fine to be a slightly insane parent. Just don’t pretend that you’re not.
I have friends whose daughter slept in a tiny bed at the foot of their own bed until she was five years old. Today that little girl is eight years old and is finally sleeping…
Read MoreThe world is slightly less interesting today
Scientists claim to have answered the question that has confounded philosophers for centuries: Which came first? The chicken or the egg? It was, they say, indisputably the chicken. A team from Warwick and Sheffield universities…
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