Of Politics, Sports and Stuff

After watching more (non-sports) television in the past few years, beginning with the start of the pandemic (it’s still weird to write those words – we really did just go through a freaking pandemic. Heck, we still are, for that matter. In fact, I feel like I’ve heard of more people coming down with covid in the past month than pretty much the first 2 years combined, but since people aren’t dying of it, it seems less present.)   Where were we/I, ah right – television, which includes movies, I’ve been keeping a mental list of things I’ve noticed about TV life that isn’t generally reflected in real life. OK, it’s not just a mental list – I wrote some of these down too. OK, I wrote all of them down just so I wouldn't fergit. Things people do way more on TV and in the movies than in real life: - Cry and have sex. Usually not at the same time. - Meet for the first time and have sex within the first hour or less of meeting. And it’s almost always intense. And over with very quick

I'm a big fan of aphorisms. In fact, I once considered starting a website that consisted only of aphorisms. The only thing I don't like about aphorisms is the word. Seems like it is a word for a world safe for people who are prejudiced against aphors.  So with that pithy intro (now that is a word I simply MUST use more often, like when someone says something particularly thought-provoking: "Oh, how terribly pithy!" And of course, it just has to be said with a British accent, with such a huge emphasis on the "p", that anyone nearby might be splattered with whatever happens to be near your front lips as you say it. And now I'll pause, because I know you need time to silently do it yourself.)  Now, where was I - ah yes - Aphorisms-R-Us. I don't usually just reprint something that someone else has written, but I enjoyed a recent column by David Brooks in the NY Times filled with what he called Life Hacks, which deserves a robust "OK, Boomer",