This afternoon I was reading the LA Times on line, catching up on Frank McCourt’s latest flailing attempts to maintain control of the Dodgers. When I was done, I scrolled to the bottom and glanced at the links there. Sometimes I’ll make my way through the news like this, instead of returning to the homepage [...]
Archive for the ‘Commerce’ category
Thursday playlist: Loose associations
Last time grandpa fawcett posted here, it was a bunch of gripes. This time it’s a jumble of thoughts and enthusiasms, the ramblings of early dementia: 1.) This song “A Real Hero” by College (feat. Electric Youth) is from the movie Drive. I could not stop playing this song every day, ten times a day, [...]
Nine / Twelve: let the cynicism begin
I don’t know what kind of neighborhood you live in, but I live in one that is owned, not by the residents or even the banks, but by a bunch of realtors. On most days, I can expect that a member of this cadre will place a magnetic calendar or some other such piece of [...]
Get your Middleton on!
It’s hard to sum up what April 29, 2011 means, but the copy writer at the Franklin Mint has nailed it: Kate Middleton is living the dream every little girl holds dear…and every woman remembers with a smile…becoming a Princess. For the first time in over 350 years, a non-royal like one of us [...]
No, seriously: atheletes are great role models
This photo appeared in Friday’s LA Times, and I’m sure in several other papers across the country. The accompanying story is about former NHL player Bob Probert, who recently died of heart failure. The article doesn’t have as much to do with his death as it does about what was found afterwards. Mr. Probert’s post-mortem [...]
Peasant stuff
Since I moved in with a friend of mine a few months ago, I often walk into the kitchen and find my roommate standing at the stove, stirring a pot of stew or checking on a loaf of something in the oven. “What’s cooking?” I ask. “Eh. Peasant stuff.” She’s from a small European country [...]
Finding my Guy
Sometimes you just need a Guy. I am aware of how sexist this is–maybe sometimes the Guy is actually a Gal–but in my experience they’re mostly Guys, these experts upon whom I depend. The Mechanic Guy, the Contractor Guy, the Computer Guy, the Landscaper Guy–it’s crucial to me that I place absolute trust in the [...]
Well-heeled
As a child, I had a series of Ladybird children’s books with fairytales such as Snow White and Rose Red and Beauty and the Beast. The illustration style was a 60s mainstream version of archaic, as if it were a series of oil paintings with the stories set in some ill-defined period between the middle [...]
My life on the C-list; or, The ones that got away
The first time, I am incredibly nervous. We exchange a polite email before I call to set up the appointment at her house. Driving into an unfamiliar neighborhood, cash bulging from my wallet, I wonder: what’s the etiquette? Do I ask her last name? Do I try to make small talk? How long should I [...]
Facebook vs. the blogosphere
It’s been a long day, so I didn’t feel up to writing the post I was planning about socialism, anarchism, and capitalism. I figured I’d post a few cat videos, like this one that I saw on Facebook (I forget who posted it) of a cat playing with an iPad: Or this one, which I [...]
