• As the legendary 19th-century mathematician and master of infinities Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor said, “There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are one of those kinds and those who are not.”
• After many dozen online contests, I have found there are three types of Scrabble games. One may draw lucky letters and score one great word after another, an embarassment of riches; or one draws a few good letters among mostly mediocre ones, just enough to give one hope during the uncertain struggle; or one’s letter tray follows a winding road, veering between six consonants and a vowel and one consonant (surely a V) and six vowels (mostly I’s and U’s), delivering a stern lesson in frustration and powerlessness. That’s life.
• Actually, I am tiring of online games. And more to the point, I am growing tired of luck. If my prospects when entering a given endeavor are no better than 50-50, perhaps it’s time to pick a different endeavor. No point being quixotic at this point of my life. Better to use what I know, whatever that is, to produce good things, whatever they may be.
• At the supermarket, one can buy 20 tablets of the brand-name laxative Senokot for $6.98 (or 35 cents each), or one can buy 100 tablets of the generic version of the same laxative, sitting right next to the Senekot, for $3.78 (4 cents each). Simple choice? Note the empty space in the tray where several boxes of Senekot once sat.
• This (click on it) is the most annoying television commercial I have had the misfortune to watch in a long, long time. It gives a bad name to being progressive.
• The enemy of one’s enemy may be one’s friend, but it does not follow that a foolish man pointing out another fool is smart. Indeed, he may be a stable genius.
• What we call nations are simply land-collectives. They may be founded under variously-stated precepts and principles, but in the end they are about people holding onto land.
• H
ere’s another supermarket find, from the same store on the same day (click image to enlarge). You may choose (on the left) 8 oz. of Premium Saltines for $2.97 or (on the right) 16 oz. of Premium Saltines for $2.98. The 8-oz. box is made for people who are afraid to have too much of a good thing.
• Someone close to me recently made an intriguingly-stated observation: “The dead trees look great not there.”
• A few weeks ago, there was a story about mothers waiting in line for hours on end at shopping malls across the nation, with their young children in tow, to take advantage of a Build-A-Bear promotion. I wonder how many hours those people will stand in line to vote.
• Procter & Gamble, the maker of Tide and Pampers, is trying to obtain trademark rights for millenial catchwords and phrases such as LOL and WTF. This is a pretty radical idea for such an old-and-storied company — are we about to see a product in our supermarkets called “WTF Is In This Diaper?” In any event, two can play this game. If I had lots of cash and a suitable lack of brains, I would develop a Star Trek-themed funeral-home franchise called “He’s Dead, Jim,” a toilet-bowl cleaner called “Grime of Thrones” and a line of roach-killing products under the “CU-L8R” brand.
