I’m referring to what characters in movies and television shows don’t see but should — It’s long been accepted by audiences that movies and TV shows will take the occasional liberty with reality. From our perspective, as viewers, this is called the willing suspension of disbelief. A fistfight? We see two guys slug each other for minutes when in real life one well-landed punch to…

I never let on that I knew who she was — I saw this question posed at a social media site: “Have you ever been at an event and found yourself sitting next to someone famous?” It was in the early 1990s and I was sitting by myself in a Broadway theater waiting for a play to begin, minding my own…

There are three options. I have a favorite —

Let’s kill this terrible idea once and for all — What are taxes? Here are some definitions: “A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures.” (Wikipedia) “Taxes are mandatory contributions levied on individuals or corporations by a…

And a pitch for a limited series — About twenty years ago I worked at a small hedge fund. One of my coworkers was rail thin and constantly eating. No three meals a day for this guy. He was eating something — yogurt, a banana, nuts, a protein bar — at least every two hours throughout the day…

A brief summary of stock expressions and timeworn clichés that are past overdue for entire elimination — well, for some but not all — First and foremost, I’m fascinated by common expressions that contain superfluous words. No, I don’t mean things like “She felt that her heart was breaking” where “that” isn’t needed. After all, it wouldn’t be wrong to keep “that” in the sentence (and it isn’t superfluous either, as it doesn’t convey…

McDaniel, the GOP Chair, shamelessly shills for her boss — As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, with no sign, as of this writing, of it abating, a favorite talking point among many Republicans is that Donald Trump has saved two million lives. This belief is captured in this tweet posted yesterday (!) by McDaniel:

Which group do you belong to? — As of this date, October 27, 2020, we are one week away from the presidential election. Well, I should say we’re one week away from ending the election, as early voting has been going on for several weeks now. With one week to the finish line, this much we can…