Stunning writing in this WaPost reflection on the Trump campaign’s journey from a gold escalator to a landscaping parking lot

I’m stunned by the writing. Here’s just a sample: Outside the Clark County Election Center in Las Vegas, a news conference was interrupted by a hysterical man in a sleeveless tank that read “BEER BBQ FREEDOM.” “The Biden crime family is stealing this election!” he screamed over and over again, as if repetition would make…

I accidentally did too much DuoLingo. I don’t want to advance to the harder league. Come on, Valerie…

Similar:Many things in the world are awful right now but my latest section of a #neovictorian them…AestheticsWooden document holders. Pretty routine, but practice is practice. #Blender3DPersonalAssociate Dean of What?The idea of students as customers relies…AcademiaThe Girl at rehearsal (where else?).PersonalPracticing Intellectual, Evidence-based DisagreementThis is what a busy literature seminar o…AcademiaPlato's Allegory of the CaveIn The…

Trump communications director Murtaugh rallies supporters by tweeting fake Washington Times front page

Here’s more evidence of just how crucial it is to the Trumpiverse to sustain the narrative that “the media” are the enemy. Earlier today, Trump’s Director of Communications Tim Murtaugh tweeted a picture of a Washington Times banner headline announcing the victory of “PRESIDENT GORE,” as “a reminder that the media doesn’t select the Present.”…

It started with a ride down an escalator and ended with a press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

Earlier today Trump tweeted that his campaign would hold a “Lawyers Press Conference at Four Seasons, Philadelphia.” He later specified that he didn’t mean the prestigious Four Seasons hotel, but rather an unrelated business “Four Seasons Landscaping,” which happens to be located next to an adult bookstore and near a cremation company. One imagines that…

He checkmates me in two moves. I lasted about a half hour, and went down fighting.

Similar:‘People are rooting for the whale’: the strange American tradition of Moby-Dick reading ma…When I went off to college to be an Engl…AcademiaOuttakes from “Once on This Island” promohttps://youtu.be/QlMJuogD9to  AmusingNew Renaissance Theatre Company's The Merry Wives of Windsor (in rep with The Tempest…PersonalChecking out of @frontporchtheatricals Grand Hotel. What an experience!My brother had already planned…

McCain’s 2008 Concession Speech: Republicans interrupt their candidate’s concession speech to cheer about what the election of his opponent says about the USA

That moment during McCain’s concession speech in 2008, when he mentions Obama, and a ripple of boos begin. McCain, his face showing disapproval, holds up his hands palms down — a controlling gesture, but a calming one. He says the simple word, “Please,” and patiently waits until his audience settles down. He says he just…

Scientists thought only male birds sang – until women joined the research

For more than 150 years, scientists have considered bird song to be an exclusively male trait, but female scientists have changed that. Americans often idealize scientists as unbiased, objective observers. But scientists are affected by conscious and unconscious biases, just as people in other fields are. Studies of birds’ vocal behavior clearly show how research approaches…

What a fluke (great headline; great story)

Similar:First time experimenting with depth of field. The pilot's perch in a fancy #steampunk crui…   AestheticsIn February, 2002, I was blogging about…In February, 2002, I was blogging about …ArtThe chief engineer does not know where the floating lamps are coming from, but he looks gr…AestheticsJaz Parkinson "Colour Signatures"Amusing visual representations of the co…AestheticsGrading the…

Everyone Nov 1

Similar:The Child –Antoine Bardou-Jacquet –The Child…AestheticsYour second attempt at modeling #medievalyork fortifications in #blender3d will be better …Your second attempt at modeling #medieva…AestheticsAnother homeschool year ends successfully. Here are the kids with their external evaluator…PersonalI wish I could credit the designer. This is brilliant.PersonalPagers, Pay Phones, and Dialup: How We Communicated on 9/11For much of…

Online dating is a method of virus control

I first met my wife in person, but we were in a long-distance online relationship for a year, and some weeks are so busy we text each other more than we speak in person. Starting a relationship during a pandemic would be tricky. Similar:Crying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship EverI’ve felt a…

Flannery O’Connor reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find”

It’s striking to hear her audience erupt in laughter at the comedy bits in the opening scenes. I assume they didn’t know what they were in for!   Similar:In Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The c…CultureIf Wishes Were Horses (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 16) Hallucinations become…Rewatching ST:DS9…

Essential Journalists: How Coronavirus Changed TV News

https://youtu.be/CWcEABVWbfA Similar:Planet of the Blind: Oprah, If Only You Had Read the Book!I can’t wait for a TV network by and for…BooksI am shocked — SHOCKED — to find that TV journalism is scripted, shallow eye candy. Don’t trust the scary bad interweb. Do…BusinessOn teaching coding to English studies studentsBecause this is a practical, hands-on,…

COVID-19 Becoming Less Deadly

Bits and pieces from a news article that summarizes recent scholarly studies. Some  moderately good news, and a reminder that increased testing means finding more cases, and finding them earlier, which means people get medical treatment sooner. (More testing means less suffering and fewer deaths. For those of us who care about such things.) Over…