AUTO FIDELITY—While most of us still won’t give up owning a car, our loyalty to particular brands is evaporating, according to a recent story in The Wall Street Journal.
QUIBBLES & BITS: OF AUTO- AND PLANET-FIDELITY
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THE GOLDMAN STATE
Family
Game-ify Me!
If you’ve been wondering, “What’s the next idiotic verb that will be added to our lexicon?”, wonder no more. It’s gamify (pronounced game-if-eye), which means to make something that isn’t a game in the slightest into an actual one.
Dane Dame Demotes Dauphins
Early last Autumn, as the world mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Europe’s only other queen—Margrethe of Denmark, now the continent’s longest serving monarch—quietly stripped. I hope that got your attention.
Are Bicycles Safe on City Streets? Ask A Spokes-Man
Question: Which of these two groups poses a greater threat to your safety on city streets?
Calling A Spay A Spay: Trouble In River City’s Animal Shelter
On September 9, I sent the following email to Phillip Zimmerman, manager of Sacramento’s Front Street Animal Shelter:
A Letter to My Folks 2 Days Before Their 84th Anniversary
Dear Mom and Dad,
Had you lived (a very long time), you’d be celebrating your 84th wedding anniversary this Sunday, November 13th.
Of Windbreakers and Dads: A Survival Tale
My older brothers and I used to wonder what it would be like if our mom died before our dad. We agreed that unlike our resilient and social mom, (who would outlive him by about 30 years), our dad would be a little old man shuffling around a Sears store on a Saturday, wearing his tan London Fog windbreaker (with red plaid lining and cigarette holes), dark blue chinos and avocado green deck shoes.
Blue Collar, White Collar, We’ll Take The Seventh Collar
I’ve always thought of freelance artists—writers, painters, composers, sculptors—as being more blue- than white-collar workers.
How I Spent My Summer Vacation(s)
Starting in childhood, I’ve spent parts or all of many summers in resort towns.
Recalling That Other Brother: A Tribute
My brother Stuart would have turned 76 tomorrow but instead, in his early 50s, lost a battle to Hepatitis C, which morphed into cirrhosis.
