This is why I love the Wall Street Journal. Sure, its editorial pages are often a little too conservative for me, and I can get a lot of the market news elsewhere. But it's got AHED stories, a sports page, and stories like this one, in today's paper (by Jacob Gallagher): Sleeping Nude: Liberating or … Continue reading The Naked, and Disgusting, Truth about Sleeping in the Nude
These past 10 days have given me a glimpse of what my retirement might be like. Since I finished teaching my class the first week of March, I really have no teaching responsibilities right now, so my days are fairly wide open. And let's just say I have not made the best use of those … Continue reading My Retirement Is Not Looking Too Productive
I received an email today from the President of Villanova University, Father Peter, announcing that classes will remain online for the rest of the semester. Classes had switched to an online format last week, and the hope was that face-to-face instruction could resume after Easter. However, the rapid escalation of covid-19 has eliminated such a … Continue reading Music Monday: A Song for Our Times – Put Your Hands Up
In the midst of all the negative news about covid-19, some people have managed to poke fun at it. So I thought I'd share a small number of video clips I've seen that I thought were pretty funny. If you think it's too soon, well here's what a couple of famous comic writers have to … Continue reading Too Soon? A Little Bit of Covid-19 Humor
The latest World Happiness Report was just released, and for the third year in a row, Finland is the world's happiest country, followed by Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway. The results are based on Gallup poll data of 1,000 people from each of 153 countries over a three-year period. The report ranks each country based … Continue reading What Makes the People of Finland So Happy?
My wife and I pledged to each other that we would not check our phones, laptops, or the TV for any news today. A full 24-hour news detox. There's only a couple of hours left in the day, so it looks like we are going to make it. Of course, it was near impossible to … Continue reading I Think We’re Going to Make It…
Today was the first time I've used the software program Zoom to be part of a meeting. Given the current state of affairs, my guess is that many people are also using Zoom, or a similar program, for the first time. Zoom can be used for business meetings, teacher/student interactions, or to simply stay in … Continue reading Thanks to Zoom, I Actually Enjoyed a Meeting
The stock market's historic bull market has come to a screeching halt. We all knew that at some point it would end, but not as dramatically as it has. For some reason, it made me think of the song Spinning Wheel by Blood, Sweat & Tears. https://youtu.be/P5jNJd7HRVU Fortunately, a look at the history of the … Continue reading Music Monday: What Goes Up Must Come Down, and Vice Versa (Fingers Crossed)
In yesterday's post, I expressed my gratitude to all the wonderful people who made our time in Singapore so special. While those good feelings will last a long time, the things I noticed on my trip home today did bring me down a bit from my SIngaporean high. Since "they" say it's a good idea … Continue reading From Thanks to Rants
It's our last day in Singapore, and to say we have loved it here would be a misunderestimate (hat tip to President Bush!) As we sat having our last teh and kaya toast at the corner cafe this morning, I reflected on all the wonderful people whose paths we have crossed that made this such … Continue reading To the People of SIngapore – Thank You!
Borden's Blather 