Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
DECEMBER 25, 2023 – After Santa’s visit last night and in the calm before the Christmas celebration storm today, I heard an interview with a serious journalist, Garrett M. Graff, author of UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government’s Search for Alien Life Here—And Out There. I’m not particularly interested in the science (or …
DECEMBER 24, 2023 – (Cont.) As my Grandpa Nilsson used to say on this day (out of earshot of other adults, except Dad), “’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring . . . not even a mouse turd.” Then he’d laugh at his own joke, and as …
DECEMBER 23, 2023 – During the course of my 24-hour stay at the Red Cabin, a dense fog filled the surrounding woods. When I hiked along the lakeshore path, I seemed to be walking along the border of infinity: beyond about 50 feet from shore, the lake itself was completely missing from view. Back in …
DECEMBER 22, 2023 – Today I drove through mist, fog, and rain to our “Red Cabin” on the shores of Grindstone Lake in northwest Wisconsin. Usually the lake surface freezes by Thanksgiving, and by Christmas the ice will safely support any number of recreational activities, from skating, skiing and ice-fishing to cross-lake snowmobiling. Trees of …
DECEMBER 21, 2023 – Early this morning I’d wanted to address (here) the recent decision of the Colorado State Supreme Court on the question of whether the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the Duly Defeated from standing for election as president. To offer my two cents’ worth in any viable currency, however, I decided I’d need to …
DECEMBER 20, 2023 – At the front end of the day I read a report about how Houthi rebel attacks on commercial oil tankers in the Red Sea could disrupt global oil markets. The result of course, would be higher prices for a key commodity (still), thus giving the Fed little breathing space on the …
DECEMBER 19, 2023 – Today I pursued a mundane task consuming unexpectedly over two hours of time and energy that could have been deployed to far more productive endeavors. Call it a misallocation of scarce resources. My unplanned diversion, however, was not without profit. Beyond the immediate benefit of providing material for today’s post[1] was a …
DECEMBER 18, 2023 – I know we live in a neighborhood of very decent people. Or more precisely, “I know we live in a neighborhood of very ‘Minnesota nice’ people”? Either way, the evidence is how local folks react to a particular “yard display” of . . . uh, Christmas decorations. If in the evening …
DECEMBER 17, 2023 – I see a close parallel between certain team sports and the infinite spectrum of world problems. If the analogy doesn’t provide solutions, at least it allows reconciliation of chronic frustration against persistent reality. I start, though, with a team sport that’s not parallel to battling issues of civilization: basketball. Played at …
DECEMBER 16, 2023 – Yesterday evening we took our eight-year old granddaughter to the circus. It was no ordinary circus. For over an hour, my wife and I were more flabbergasted—it turned out—than our granddaughter had been: when I asked her excitedly afterward, “Did that fire up your imagination?” Her response: “Not really.” I’ll explain …
DECEMBER 15, 2023 – In this age of self realization I’m finally at liberty to publicly acknowledge a condition, an affliction that has long clouded my otherwise happy existence: From childhood to geezerhood I’ve suffered from a form of aural dyslexia. That I’ve “suffered” is probably a gross overstatement—so much so that such a characterization …
DECEMBER 14, 2023 – (Cont.) While listening to the Bartok on the drive to the Red Cabin, I reacted as I always have when listening to a “war horse” of the violin repertoire[1]: “Hmmm, now that passage [or movement, even] I could play . . . with a little practice” and . . . “Uh …
DECEMBER 13, 2023 – Today marks my 38th consecutive day of practicing my violin. I know this statistic is as interesting as my record of days-in-a-row of dental flossing (14,697), but for me work on the violin has special significance. First, it follows months of zero practice. Second, it’s produced results. Third, it’s driven by …
DECEMBER 12, 2023 – Like many of my readers—“left,” “right,” or “center” or all three at once but among a swath of issues—my hair’s set on fire every time I stick my head above the trench and into the trajectories of bombs and bullets of “Breaking News.” In some cases—most notably, Ukraine, Gaza, and gun …
DECEMBER 11. 2023 – Each December I’m shocked and amused by the horse-drawn buggy method that Minnesota lawyers must follow to file their annual reports. The operation is run by the “Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility” established by the Minnesota Supreme Court. By statutue, each law firm operating in the state must certify annually that …
DECEMBER 10, 2023 – Nearly always a huge gap separates someone’s bizarre dream from the person’s description of it. Inevitably, the bright, colorful details of a dream fade quickly, though the general impression holds firm, at least through the dreamer’s transition into consciousness. “Oh my gosh but I had the weirdest dream last night!” your …
DECEMBER 9, 2023 – Friday morning it was “Sassafras” who showed up—fairly late—at the back door. Under her North Face down parka was her unicorn gown, and under that, her new Korean kitty-kat PJs courtesy of “K-Grand Aunt.” Beth reminded me that it was “Pajama Day” at school. Apparently our granddaughter had had a rough …
DECEMBER 8, 2023 – After school yesterday, Beth picked up Illiana from school and ferried her back to our house to play for a while before swimming class at 5:00. I was disappointed I couldn’t join in fun around the house, but I was in the middle of a three-hour Zoom conference. With my microphone …
DECEMBER 7, 2023 – Late last night after a pleasant day filled with numerous wonders, I watched 20 minutes worth of the fourth Republican Presidential Debate (so called). DeSantis and Ramaswamy managed to set my hair on fire, while two or three times Chris Christie made me cheer out loud when calling out his colleagues …
DECEMBER 6, 2023 – A regular feature of life at our house is our granddaughter’s drop-off on weekday mornings. Her dad—our older son—pulls into our driveway on his way to work, and out hops “Sassafras” or “Sweetie Pie,” depending on how late she got to bed the night before, though “Sweetie Pie” is the far …
DECEMBER 5, 2023 – Yesterday evening after scoring a sugar high from “doughnut-making” time with Grandma, our eight-year-old granddaughter was packed off for home. As Grandma herself then realized that her “supper” had featured . . . doughnuts with icing colored (by our granddaughter) in imitation of automotive fluid and over-adorned with “sprinkles.” If I …
DECEMBER 4, 2023 -I have a friend who invariably says, “No one is an A-student at everything,” when he encounters someone highly accomplished at one thing or another but is otherwise a klutz, rank amateur, or D-student. I thought about this the other day when a client of mine described a good customer who knew …
DECEMBER 3, 2023 – Yesterday evening we enjoyed a brief visit with our younger-son-Byron’s birth-mother, whom he—and the rest of our family—refer to as “K-Mom.” The “K” stands for “Korea,” which is where K-Mom lives and Byron was born. He first parted company with K-Mom immediately after delivery; the two were reunited for the first …
DECEMBER 2, 2023 – As a tree hugger I suppose I’ve always been a hypocrite when it came to Christmas trees: at Yuletide—with kid-like glee—I revel in the arboreal grave lot by the supermarket. As the aromatic Fraser and balsam firs, Scotch and white pine gasp their last into the December air, I’m filled with …
DECEMBER 2, 2023 – In my search for new direction (see yesterday’s post), this morning I checked Bloomberg.com—my go-to news source—glanced at a few headlines, then clicked on “AI.” Whenever I see “AI,” I still mistake the “I” for an “l,” as in “Hal,” without the “H.” Hal, of course, was the computer-gone-rogue aboard the …