I just now realized you helped us on our wedding day, even though it was the day after your b-day! Your so generous and I never even recognized your b-day during my chaos. I heart you!

PS – you’re my favorite unique human – next to Cassidy of course.

🙂

I just consulted with Eileen to make sure I was remembering this correctly. It turns out that at your wedding, Eileen, Elizabeth, and Sarah slyly wreaked birthday vengeance on me. The year before I had told them they needn’t bother about my birthday. When they took me at my word, I then mercilessly teased them all year about it. They brought along numerous small gifts for me to your wedding celebration and gradually put them places for me to find them. There were so many it was ludicrous and obvious that it was revenge. So my birthday happen to have a special recognition in the background at your wedding.

Thank you for your affection and kind words. It is an honor to be mentioned in the same breath with your extraordinary daughter. Love from Uncle Steve

Just in case you didn’t know it, you can purchase an eboot from Amazon and if it’s not satisfactory return it within seven days. You just go to your kindle content page and click next to the book. One of the options will be “return this book.” So you can buy the Garner and return it if it’s not formatted properly. Just another tip from your uncle Larry.

Have you read DF Wallace’s essays? I’m not sure I’d make it through Infinite Jest, but his essays are so him – absolutely brilliant and perceptive, sometimes depressingly accurate about people and life, and then also REALLY funny.
Big writer crush on him…

Yes, I am working my way through all the David Foster Wallace I can find. I have read some of the essays. In fact, I read some of them when they came out in mags like Harpers. The Bryan A. Garner (the linguist) connection grew out of an essay that Wallace eventually put in the collection, Consider the Lobster . I don’t own this collection but it’s on my list of books to eventually read.

In your article, first paragraph second to the last sentence you have “the” twice.
In the third paragraph after the parenthetical quote, should “the” be capitalized?

Can you tell I’m in edit and re-edit mode of my dissertation?
David j

facile: (especially of a theory or argument) appearing neat and comprehensive only by ignoring the true complexities of an issue; superficial.

Thank you for expanding my vocabulary! If I’ve selected the wrong definition of this, please let me know.

🙂

Cindy,

Maybe I could have used a better word there. I also notice a typo of too many “the”s nearby.

My meaning was more embedded in the etymology of the word. Not so much superficial as having skill in.

From the Oxford English Dictionary: classical Latin facilis easy to do, straightforward, involving no difficulties, easily obtained, easy to bear, prone, ready, quick, indulgent, accommodating, propitious, favourable, tame, tractable, nimble, agile, skilful, free, liberal, (of speech) unforced, natural, in post-classical Latin also easy to comprehend or answer (from 8th cent. in British sources), easily uttered, fluent (13th cent. in British sources) < facere to do (emphasis added)....

Hey hey… a turntable! I thought about getting another one. I have had some nice ones in the past with diamond needles and things like pitch control. I couldn’t afford one that I would want. I also don’t have any records anymore. All CD’s or digital. I gave the stack of records I had to a coworker about 8 years ago. He was trying to support his family by working a $12 and hour job with government and being a disc jockey on the side for weddings, raves, dances etc. I was making almost 3 times that with no side job. He is a good guy and last time I spoke with him, maybe a year ago he was making a bit more money and his DJ business was doing rather well. He still had all the records I gave him.

I noticed that records are rearing up again. In fact I believe there are quite a bit of record stores in Southern California. I know there is one over by UC Riverside.
Go figure.
David J

David,

I know you are a turntable guy! I am enjoying my new record player. I have some of my old records still. I even have one I have had ever since I was a child in Tennessee (Charlie Parker).

When I go into thrift shops I see tons of records. Now I can look through them and know that I can hear one if I buy it.

Yes, vinyl has been coming back for a while. You know it’s mainstream when Barnes and Noble are carrying records (again).

Dad

David Foster Wallace: “I’d need some kind of cogent explanation of what Generation X is”

Note: lucy is five weeks old today (was four weeks not four months)

Also typo of ‘tress’ instead of ‘trees’ on your photo caption 🙂

X

Sad to hear how you had to break the news to Grandma. I love you.

Lucy is lovely, simply lovely. Congratulations to all!

Sounds serious.
=^|

See yesterday’s comment about the first few paragraphs.
=^|

http://youtu.be/ly1al4K3u2M

Wish I was closer or had time I would put your harpsichord together for you. I like building stuff like that.
David

On the 30% chance from fivethirtyeight…

Last spring, I spoke with a Union Leader at the coffee hour after church and he was very clear that he thought Trump was what the country needed. That was from a Union Leader. I walked away from that conversation deeply disturbed at the prospect that the Democrats weren’t in touch with the rank and file. I kept saying that Michigan was “in play” but it seemed like the HRC people with whom I spoke didn’t get it. I offered to HRC’s campaign to drive people to the polls and to make phone calls from my home no less than three times. And each time they promised to get back to me. I told them that they needed to learn from the Bernie surprise win in the Michigan primary and not take the voters for granted. But they, apparently, thought I was crazy.

Later, a few weeks ago, I was nervous because I not only read fivethirtyeight for politics but also for baseball. There was a point during the World Series when fivethirtyeight said that the Chicago Cubs had a 30% chance of winning the series. And they won. As silly as it might be, that helped me to see how significant a 30% chance is. But, as the election came closer, even I began to listen to those who said HRC had it in the bag and that the US would never elect Trump. I entered Tuesday evening wondering if I should have bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate the inevitable victory.

Obviously, it’s easy to get caught in the echo chamber. But I really did hear Nate Silver when he kept insisting that a thirty % chance was a significant number. And nonetheless I was shocked on Tuesday night. I walked through Wednesday in shock. The only thing I could liken it to was how I felt when Dad died… stunned… numb. I’m not so numb now but I think it’s still going to take time to wrap my head around this one. I no longer feel like my country is my home. If I could see a way to do it, I would seriously pursue leaving the US and relocating to Canada, Scotland or Ireland. Sadly, I’m too connected to my children and family to make such a drastic change at this point in life. And none of those countries are interested in receiving a “pensioner” who will contribute little to their economy and become a drain on their health care system. Believe me, I’ve checked.

Mark,

Thank you for this comment. It is helpful to see how you are coping with the election. I have been thinking about you and following your public statements on Facebooger (the ones I manage to find).

I’m still processing the election as well. I’m unhappy right now with the demonstrations on the left, especially ones that are already saying Trump is not their president. This seems a precise mirror of what the right has been doing for years. I think Trump’s campaign rhetoric was unthinkably venal, not to mention glib. But I still see him as unpredictable.

For my part, demonstrating will be more appropriate after he’s done something.

But as I say I’m still processing.