Archive for November, 2011
November 30th, 2011 | 
Author: I lead with some heavy stuff; it gets lighter after the pic.
Read the sad tale of Bill Mantlo, former comic book writer and attorney, until a hit-and-run accident wrecked his life. Mark Evanier, linking to the article, writes: “Those who still fear government ‘death panels’ should take note of the portions of Mantlo’s story where his private insurer keeps trying to cut off all payments to him because, after all, their primary duty is to their stockholders.” Here’s the direct link to the article, and here’s Evanier’s correction to the article about the comic book process, which does not negate the insane way Mantlo has been warehoused.
But for sheer devastation, few things I’ve read actually made me weep like Jaquandor’s recollection of a particular day.
Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky’s Next Coaching Gig
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Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: Beatles, Bill Mantlo, Harvey Pekar, health insurance, Jaquandor, Mark Evanier, music, records | 
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Unless I am misremembering, the first TIME magazine cover after September 11, 2001 that was not about 9/11 or the subsequent war in Afghanistan was the one announcing the death of George Harrison. I was sad that George died, of course, but I knew he was sick and not likely to get better. The top cover was the US version; the bottom one, the UK take.
This is obvious, I imagine, but one deals differently when someone dies expectedly or unexpectedly, by disease or by murder. John Lennon’s death a couple decades earlier was a jolt; George’s was just sad.
In fact, George’s passing made me melancholy the more I thought about his contribution to the world Read the rest of this entry »
In one of my favorite websites, Regret the Error, there is a lengthy column about how copy editing errors take place, in this case, the Washington Post, and what to do about it. One quote from the Post: “Mistakes occur more frequently online than in print, generally, because online copy goes through fewer editors…But online errors are easier and faster to correct.”
I am a rather good speller. I remember that I was so proud to get 100 in my 5th grade spelling final. Though I was no good at spelling bees; I need to write it down in order to ascertain that it looks wrong. But spellcheck has made me lazy. Add to that the fact that I’m a lousy typist and one will discover typos in this blog. Read the rest of this entry »
With all the big, Oscar-bait movies coming out in the fall, what is the one movie I wanted to see most of all this week? If you’ve read the title of this piece, you already know. I think it’s in no small part to a very clever campaign of faux trailers online – Green with Envy is still my favorite – that kept up the interest, and bringing the Muppets back in the limelight.
The movie is about two big Muppet fans, Walter, and his brother Gary (Jason Segal). They and Gary’s long-time girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) take a trip to Los Angeles and discover, though, that lots of people HAVE forgotten Kermit the Frog and his cohorts. Worse, there is an unfortunate contractual provision which will make things worse.
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When Lydia had homework in first grade, it was manageable. She would get a packet of eight sheets on Monday, and they were due on Friday. It became easy to pace the work. If Lydia had something going on one night, we could work around it.
But in second grade, she gets homework each of the first four weeknights of the week, PLUS a weekly spelling assignment. Monday night in particular, is a real pain. Read the rest of this entry »
One of my sisters sent me a link to this website www.humanmetrics.com, which has a series of Human Metrics tests. For instance:
Carl Jung classified people using three criteria:
Extraversion – Introversion
Sensing – Intuition
Thinking – Feeling
Isabel Briggs Myers added a fourth criterion, Judging-Perceiving.
The first letters of the different combinations of the four criteria denote a type formula. For example:
ISTJ – Introvert Sensing Thinking Judging
Upon completing Jung Typology Test you will obtain your type formula, strengths of the preferences and the type description. It may help you to identify your life style in general and with respect to the specific areas of activity. You will also obtain the list of the most suitable career choices based on your personality, along with some educational institutions where you can receive a relevant degree or a training.
Well, I’ve taken these tests before, but I gave it another shot.
Your Type is Read the rest of this entry »
I think Thanksgiving is my happiest and saddest holiday. I have spent it, dumped at the last minute, home eating Chinese food and watching football, alone. I have spent it with 20+ people, only two of whom I knew before that day. I’ve gathered with a handful of other “orphans”. I’ve hosted family meals. But I haven’t celebrated it with my birth family since 1972.
I have no Thanksgiving tradition. Read the rest of this entry »