Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Blue Sky


12 comments:

  1. Continuing with etymological amusements, one of my all-time favorite books is Poplollies and Bellibones [Click] It seems that the current edition is from 2005; mine is from 1977. I do so hope that the "new" edition preserves the marvellous illustrations of the original, by George Moran. Ne'er shall I forget the misadventures of Tenderis the Knight!

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    1. A sample: "Having proved himself on the battlefield, Tenderis's heart quopped with the thrill of meeting a different sort of challenge. He vowed to rixle over the affections of the latest bellibone to catch his fancy, fairheaded Pretty Pure Polly Esther. He had yarkened a picnic for them to share in a picturesque spot just a wurp away from a brooling brook, where tenderis grandly unfolded the sanap for their lunch."

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    2. I had The King Who Rained, but it sounds like your book beats it hands down.

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  2. Knockout Wars, Wars Of Attrition, And Trump [Click] Analogies to WWI and WWII; I should also suggest the US Civil War. The analogy to Berlusconi that I posted at the beginning of yesterday’s thread is also certainly apt.

    House-hunting in Silicon Valley: tech's newly rich fuel a spectacle of excess [Click] I will have to see if I can locate my grandparents’ house in San Jose; the street name has changed and it has been a long time since I was there, but I think I have a street map with the old name. If the house still exists, its market value is probably astronomical.

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    1. The house I lived in on Long Island was in a pretty bad neighborhood. I bought it for $140,000 and that was more than it was worth. The last time I looked it had sold for $300,000.

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    2. Back in 1971, Penny and I bought our house for $25,000 (but then spent nearly $10,000 fixing it up, to bring the total cost to what comparable houses were selling for). Today the assessor estimates its market value at something like $400,000, and that may be on the low side according to online programs that estimate home values. You have to factor in 47 years of inflation, of course.

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  3. “When you’re explaining, you’re losing.” —Ronald Reagan
    Gillibrand explains [Click]
    Joe Biden explains [Click]
    And Elizabeth Warren has been explaining.

    Mueller Grand Jury ‘Continuing Robustly’ [Click]

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    1. With regard to the new brain cell article: When I was a youngster, my mother was told by more than one "expert" that children with brain damage plateau at age twelve. No further improvement can be expected. If memory serves, both in , published in the early '70s and in later things I've read, it was positively asserted that humans are born with all the neurons they'll ever have. If some become damaged or are destroyed, that's it. So, I find it especially gratifying to read about research that suggests brain cells continue to be generated into extreme old age. Candidly, this latter view makes a great deal more sense to me than the former.

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  5. When it rains, it pours; my consulting work picked up dramatically this week. We had some light rain today, probably will have some more. No art class today--instructor called in sick. This time I had the sense to check my school e-mail inbox before heading out.

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