Last year, when I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art I noticed several hot dog vendors. Today's quiz: Guess what these hot dog vendors pay in rent each year? After you guess, hit this link and be careful to not fall out of your chair.
It's fun to see what passes as "metaphysics" at book stores. It ranges from handwriting analysis to communicating with the dead to astrology to reading tarot cards to all kinds of other cutting-edge new age stuff. But nothing sums it up like the covers to the following two books I saw tonight at a Borders in Chicago:
One of my daughters was reading comic books and asked me whether there really are such things as jet packs. I had seen some videos many years ago, but a few mouse clicks later, I discovered that you can actually buy one for $100,000. Here is a video showing you how to fly a jet pack. As impressive as this device is, I can't imagine a family of four flying off in jet packs to have a picnic. And clearly, you won't be able to sneak up on anyone while using a jet pack.
The word "texting" sounds harsh and garbled when it comes out of a speaker's mouth. A sentence where "text" is used as a verb, such as , "I texted him yesterday but he didn't text me back," instantly summons an image of a slack-jawed, gum-popping teenage girl- all ignorance and frivolity. The words just sound stupid. Don't blame me- some of us Gen-Yers fought off the term "texting" the same way we did bad fads like Crocs and Ugg boots. Even deep into the aughts, years after "texting", we still said "sending a text message" instead. "Texting" prevailed however, for the same reason that Crocs and Uggs became ubiquitous: aesthetics aside, it was damn comfy and easy. "Texting" might make for an ugly-sounding word, but it came out more smoothly and quickly than the correct "sending a text message".
Have you ever gone to a local government meeting where citizen input was invited and it made you wonder about whether democracies are good ideas? As I watched this woman's speech (to the Santa Cruz California City Council) on Reddit.com, I wondered whether it would ever occurred to her that she'd be more effective if she had command of any facts or if she performed a coherent analysis before standing up and talking. I don't mean to pick on her too harshly. She seems sincere. This does remind me of many government meetings where ill-informed citizens dominate. This is the price to pay, though, if you want to give well-informed citizens a chance to talk too. These are only excerpts from the woman's full speech. Therefore, this a very patient city council, indeed.
