The Klingons have been transported aboard the Enterprise. Tension is high, mistrust ubiquitous, hostilities imminent. An alien life force that feeds on intense emotion has replaced futuristic weapons with bloodier antecedents. Knives, swords, and spears abound. The explicitly wounded are avenged, but in ways unknown to even 25th century science,
Is mentioning that the stars of the most recent Spider-Man film introduce the movie by saying, “no spoilers” in itself a spoiler of some kind, a “meta-spoiler” perhaps? If so, read no further. Because I’m going to mention another aspect of the cinematic experience. Hopefully, the 20 million people who
Parson D’Ascoynes: How do you find the wine? Louis Mazzini: Admirable. Parson D’Ascoynes: Cockburn ’79. Louis Mazzini: Oh. Parson D’Ascoynes: No finer year, in my view. My doctor though, is of a different opinion. Louis Mazzini: And what does he favor? Parson D’Ascoynes: Abstinence. Abstinence indeed. Easy to articulate, harder
Who gets to say what? Under what circumstances? When are opinions warranted? When should we keep our mouths shut? Does being right matter? Is the relationship between parent and child more cogent than knowledge and authority? I got well-deserved pushback on two articles last month. I wrote about eating disorders
One of my snarky children—oh, wait: that would be all of them—remarked that there are only four topics that I write about on this blog. “There’s a fourth topic?” one of the little cherubim piped up. “You read dad’s blog?” queried another. “It’s the same thing every week,” said the
Longtime readers will acknowledge my predilection for jokes, the older, the sillier, the better. Here’s one of my favorites from junior high: What’s the difference between an elephant and a grape? Answer: If you don’t know, I’m not sending you to the store for grapes. The absurd implication, that someone
A counselor relates the stats of a stellar candidate:. Applied Early Decision Full pay, did not apply for and would not qualify for need based financial aid. 4.5 weighted gpa; 3.8 unweighted. Five years of French. Four years orchestra, viola, many performances, church choir. Nine AP exams, mostly 5s, some
Would you like to play poker on Tuesday? Do you have twenty dollars? Answer the second question first. Because if you don’t have twenty dollars, it doesn’t matter whether you would like to join our friendly game. One of my running buddies taught me this important paradigm when discussing the
What the hell you talkin’ about? I got a han’bill says they got good wages, an’ little while ago I seen a thing in the paper says they need folks to pick fruit. Is understated irony among the greatest of Steinbeck’s gifts? Readers of the Grapes of Wrath from 1939
Thomas was shy, didn’t want to give a valedictory speech. So, he deliberately enrolled in “only” five advanced placement courses as a senior, allowing some of his peers to get “ahead” of him by taking six APs. Tommy was graduated fourth in his class thereby, mission accomplished. Somebody else got
Copyright © David Altshuler 1980 – 2024 | Miami, FL • Charlotte, NC | (305) 978-8917 | [email protected]
