TRIPPIN’ THROUGH KEYBOARDS
I’VE BEEN ENJOYING Michael Arndt’s Snails & Monkey Tails: A Visual Guide to Punctuation & Symbols. One of its chapters is “Typography in the Digital Age,” which begins with that … Continue reading
THOMAS BOWDLER—AHEAD OF HIS TIME?
THE HYPOCRITICAL WHACKO CONSERVATIVES’ BANNING OF BOOKS got me thinking of Thomas Bowdler, whence the term “bowdlerize,” to expurgate; loosely, “to clean up.” That is, it’s ok for Trump to … Continue reading
HENRY J—A COMPACT CAR WITH HUGE HERITAGE PART 2
YESTERDAY WE LEFT OUR ROAD AND TRACK STAFFERS trippin’ to Reno in one of industrialist Henry J. Kaiser’s tidy little products. Today we pick up in Part 2 with their … Continue reading
HENRY J—A COMPACT CAR WITH HUGE HERITAGE PART 1
“FOR SOME MONTHS,” THE MAGAZINE ENTHUSED in January 1952, “Road and Track [the “&” came along in mid-1954] has been off-handedly touting the virtues of a much under-rated and (we … Continue reading
JOHN HONEYMAN—GEORGE WASHINGTON’S DOUBLE AGENT PART 2
YESTERDAY PART 1 INTRODUCED US TO John Honeyman, George Washington’s double agent who played a crucial role in turning the tide of the American Revolution. Today in Part 2 is … Continue reading
JOHN HONEYMAN—GEORGE WASHINGTON’S DOUBLE AGENT PART 1
NUGGETS OF KNOWLEDGE ARE FOUND in a variety of places. Recently on SiriusXM “Radio Classics,” mention was made in a vintage “Lux Theatre” broadcast of a Revolutionary War spy named … Continue reading
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS—A PERSONAL UPDATE
I CONTINUE TO MONITOR Automotive News, though with somewhat different focus in retirement than the weekly in-depth scrutiny of my professional years. These days, I let the issues pile up … Continue reading
NEWS FROM THE CLASSROOMS
THE U.S. CONSTITUTION CAME TO MIND when I read David Dayen in The New York Times, October 22, 2024: “Back in June, Oklahoma’s superintendent for public instruction, Ryan Walters, ordered every … Continue reading
ANGLOPHILIC COMMENTARIES PART 1
ENGLISH, AFTER ALL, IS LANGUAGE OF THE BRITS; we only inherited it fair and square at Yorktown in ’81. So it’s not surprising that from time to time my favorite … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 
ANGLOPHILIC COMMENTARIES PART 2
YESTERDAY WE SHARED ENGLISH QUOTES from the likes of Noel Coward, Dorothy Sayers, W. Somerset Maugham, and even Irishman George Bernard Shaw. Today in Part 2, two extended commentaries follow, … Continue reading →