['Super Powers,' by Mark Stivers. Click to view the full set of six.] Given a choice, I think the caption below my portrait — in ten words or less — would say something like writes brilliant stories one hour at a time*. (My Kryptonite: the Internet.) Yours? _______________ * Edit to add: Just to make [...]

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[Image: 'A Little Family History,' by B. Kliban] From whiskey river: Moment A person wakes from sleep and does not know for a time who she is, who he is. This happens in a lifetime once or twice. It has happened to you, no doubt. Some in that moment panic, some sigh with pleasure. How [...]

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[This is another in an occasional series on popular songs with appeal across the generations. This post will be broken into two parts; Part 2 will appear in a few days is here.] As a kid, I once read a “funny” comic-book episode in which aliens landed in mid-20th-century America and reported back to their [...]

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No, alas — not here to report anything like the conclusion of Seems to Fit. Just sharing a tidbit from the irrepressible xkcd webcomic. The first three panels of today’s contribution to the collective wisdom are above; click the image to see the final panel.

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[This is another in an occasional series on popular songs with long histories. Part 1 -- which focused on the song's composition and lyrics -- appeared on Wednesday.] How many times and by which performers has “Begin the Beguine” been covered? It is to laugh. The most comprehensive list I’ve seen was on the page [...]

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From whiskey river (first 3+ lines not included there): from The Ninth Duino Elegy Why, if this interval of being can be spent serenely in the form of a laurel, slightly darker than all other green, with tiny waves on the edges of every leaf (like the smile of a breeze)–: why then have to [...]

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I do love a punchline — or a cartoon caption — which makes me pause for a split-second before making me snort. (Score another for the Bizarro strip.) This one’s even better than that first split-second made me realize, as I just noticed when uploading it.

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Real post for the day imminent. In the meantime, I think this quotation deserves a post of its own: The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest. He is a fellow who thoroughly enjoys his work, just as [...]

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[This post's title alludes to this little tidbit of news: 2008 will last a second longer than most years.] The New Year, per usual, calls to mind resolutions about what we hope will come within the next 365ish days. I’ll get to that in a moment. First, though, I want to note that whatever else [...]

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[Don't assume the above is the whole story. Click the image to see the complete strip from Shannon Wheeler's "How to Be Happy" series.] Like me, you have probably heard more than once the assertion — pronounced in a gentle voice, at the end of a radio commercial (for the Motel 6 chain) consisting entirely [...]

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