Dear Teacher: Please excuse Epstein from class for the rest of his life because he has died. Signed, Epstein’s mother So long, Robert Hegyes, and thanks for all the laughs. You made me and my friends laugh at ourselves when we were in the seventh grade and we still haven’t forgotten…
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Dad and Breakfast…
My wife left very early this morning to take the Praxis test in English at a college about forty miles away from where we live. That means I was left in charge of breakfast. But it gets worse. When my children awoke, they all knew I was left in charge of breakfast. “Do you wantContinue reading “Dad and Breakfast…”
The Littlest iPad Freak
My youngest daughter, Zoe (23 months old) is an iPad freak. She’s not an iPad lover. She’s not an iPad fan. She is an iPad freak. She’s always the first one to get up in the morning. She runs into my room almost every morning, maybe or maybe not saying hello, but always… always… runsContinue reading “The Littlest iPad Freak”
Nyctographs and Geniuses
From the Oxford English Dictionary: Your word for today is: nyctograph, n. nyctograph, n. Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈnɪktə(ʊ)grɑːf/, /ˈnɪktə(ʊ)graf/, U.S. /ˈnɪktoʊˌgræf/, /ˈnɪkdoʊˌgræf/ Etymology: < nycto- comb. form + -graph comb. form. Compare French nyctographe machine enabling the blind to write or the sighted to write in the dark (1818–19 or earlier), and Hellenistic Greek νυκτογραϕία writing by night. Compare also earlier noctograph n. A device invented by Charles Dodgson (‘Lewis Carroll’) with which aContinue reading “Nyctographs and Geniuses”
The Unbearable Banality of Knock-Knock Jokes
Keep in mind: Three children, 9, 5, and not quite 2. My elder daughter posts a knock-knock joke to Facebook: Knock knock Who’s there? Owl. Owl who? Yep, that’s what they say… Yes, it is terrible. She is passing on her own suffering, as her manager said it to her. I, in turn, passed itContinue reading “The Unbearable Banality of Knock-Knock Jokes”
The Philosophy of Contemporary Song 