It is said that the word “nerd” originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the cool kids who somehow managed to find their way to and into MIT characterized the uncool kids as knurds. Knurd, you will note, is drunk spelled backward. Therefore it was trendy to be drunk, whereas it was the sign of ultimate and irreversible squaredom to study, achieve, graduate with honors, and get a job.
Amy Schumer’s recently released comedy special on Netflix is, by all accounts, (and pardon the reference to her recent film, which I carefully avoided) a trainwreck. Early comments and ratings give it one star out of five. That’s pretty bad, even by Netflix original programming standards.
A few more words about my experience with the (alleged) flock of eagles. Birds of prey do not typically flock. There is little reason. They do not need to fend off predators. They compete with one another over food sources. And while some bald eagles migrate short distances, those in Florida do not; that eliminates the need for the aerodynamic advantage enjoyed by ducks and geese.
And yet bald eagles are frequently seen in large numbers.
Once upon a time, there lived a young man in a faraway place; although Aggies like us inevitably want to call such characters Rock, we’ll call him Jake.
I was distracted on my drive in to work today by a high-flying flock of gliding birds. They acted very much like buzzards, except they were too high up and occasionally showed flashes of white. I finally decided they must have been bald eagles.
It was really quite inspiring.
“Like,” for most English-speaking humans, means like. I say that to clarify for those who may not be acquainted with the nuances of social media. When you “like” your wife’s cooking, it may simply mean that you don’t want to eat Cheerios for dinner tomorrow night. When you “like” your child’s latest painting, it may say speak more to your relationship with the child than it does the child’s artistic talent. But usually, like means like. And that’s especially true if, as with social media, you provide no context.
A show I dearly love is coming to town, and I checked to see if the $98 ticket price was perhaps a misprint. Turns out it’s not only accurate, it’s moderate. Much higher prices for tickets are available. And much, much higher ticket prices are posted for other live events later in the year.
Perhaps some of you have a spare $200 lying around …
The gym at Canada’s Carleton University has removed its scale. Some participants called it “triggering.” Seeing disappointing numbers appear day after day could lead people to be discouraged about their weight. I figured that’s why they were in the gym in the first place. But whatever.
Instead of yammering some more about political correctness, instead I would like to inject a bit of reality into the concept of measurements, …
Drinking cranberry juice is good for urinary tract infections. You’ve heard that, right? Because, like, science. Or your neighbor told you. Or some guy on the internet whose first name is Doctor said so.
So Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, the famed and celebrated Bonnie and Clyde themselves, capped off the Oscars ceremony by announcing the wrong winner in the Best Picture category — surely a greater theft than any perpetrated by their real-life bank-robbing counterparts. And yet my biggest takeaway from the biggest television fiasco since Nipplegate at Super Bowl XXVIII is … I don’t care.
