The scene: the living room of a rustic but solidly built house in Vermont, with a gorgeous view spread beneath and a Green Mountainside above. It is a summer morning, and the sun is still low but bright and cheerful. The Guest and The Erstwhile Missus are there at the invitation of D—, a colleague [...]

[Read more →]

Patient (handing appointment card for his regular checkup to receptionist at desk in Super Mega Giant medical center): Hey, how you doing, I’m—
Receptionist: I know. Got you right here. (Hands exam paperwork to patient; calls out to someone out of sight behind her.) He just got here! I’m sending him right back!
(Patient wanders around corner, [...]

[Read more →]

[The scene: a small quasi-hallway between garage and kitchen in a suburban house somewhere in North Florida.]
She: [pointing to weird, waist-high structure made of woven twigs and/or sticks, with four legs, a torso, and a head from which antlers sprout] Why is that still here?
He: [studiously ignoring the obvious] Why is what still here?
She: [...]

[Read more →]

He: So what kind of car did she get?
She: I don’t know, I forget. It starts with an “E.” Some kind of American car.
He: [...prolonged thoughtful silence...]
[time passes]
She: I wish I could remember what kind of car it was.
He: Well, the only kind I could think of that started with an “E” is “Elantra,” but [...]

[Read more →]