Backstage from Trump's Apprentice Days

not exactly subtle

 

It's a Cookbook (Having Fun with AI Illustrations?)

 

Who's the Marxist?

 

Heroes

 There's a very low budget movie starring Sigourney Weaver called The Guys about an editor helping a fire captain write eulogies for his firemen who died on 9/11. I used to assign it to my journalism students since it's a dramatized lesson in sensitive interviewing for simple illustrative anecdotes.

This tweet says that at a New York firehouse the names of the firemen who died that day - the "riding list" - are preserved under glass. "Heroism" is a word subject to debate depending on context. But not here.

https://x.com/JaniceDean/status/1833674580679934409 

Where Have All the Dirty Old Men Gone?

In the newspaper today was a story about a California politician (female) who required a staffer (male) to provide her with sexual services, apparently strenuous enough to cause him a back injury. There was a bit of spicy detail that I thought certain male friends might find of anthropological interest.

But as I prepared a mental list of such friends, I realized how many of my male acquaintances who might enjoy such a naughty tidbit were no longer among those of us who trod the earth. I mean who are still alive even if mostly inert. It's mid morning, and I have yet to do significant trodding.

Odd - or perhaps embarrassing - that the item of information that made me aware of, that brought into focus, the sorrow of lost friends was a saucy detail about sexual role reversal. It wasn't a salsa recipe or a viral cat video.

You might say I need better friends, but I really liked the ones I had.

The Won'ts of Wills

 

Even the most innocuous of decisions can cause anguish. Our will is straightforward: a few bucks for nieces and nephews, provision for our cats, a list of charities to divide up the rest (assuming there is a 'rest.')

No heavy lifting here. But we put off the list making and put it off again, and when I finally put our decisions on paper, it felt suicidal. I did not realize the extent to which delaying the making of a will can feel just a little bit like postponing the eventuality for which wills are made. 

So many impediments to the human race evolving to the point of basic common sense. I doubt we ever get there.

First and Five-to-10

 

Appearance at the DNC of members of the high school football team that Tim Walz helped coach to a state football championship was inspirational but give Trump a year and he'll be able to bring out a football roster of his own - from The Longest Yard.