The Unique Notion of “Parenthood”

Last updated on: July 20, 2009 at 5:20 am By John Shore

Below is an interesting passage from Jill Lepore’s article, “Baby Talk,” which appeared in the books review section of the June 29 issue of The New Yorker. (The whole article is here.) I especially love its first sentence: “Adolescence is a useful contrivance, midlife is a moving target, senior citizens are an interest group, and tweenhood is just plain made up. Parenthood seems, at first, different. There have always been parents, and parents have always been besotted with their children,... Read more

“Away, Gay Christians! But About That Charitable Work You Do …”

Last updated on: July 15, 2009 at 3:03 pm By John Shore

As reported in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and elsewhere, the American Episcopal Church now seems irrevocably split between the traditional Episcopal Church and the brand-new Anglican Church of North America, recently formed specifically in opposition to the way the Episcopal Church kept refusing to apologize for ordinating, six years ago, the openly gay Gene Robinson as one of its many bishops. It’s pro-gay Episcopalians versus anti-gay Episcopalians, basically. The result is that there’s now a new... Read more

Thank God for Poor, Stupid Bible Thumpers

Last updated on: July 14, 2009 at 8:02 am By John Shore

The one group of Americans our media is still very comfortable making fun of is poor, white, uneducated Southerners. Bonus laughs if you make them Bible thumpers! Making fun of blacks is certainly not acceptable anymore. Big-chested blonde bimbos are no longer funny. Mexican sidekicks have run their course. It’s still okay to laugh at gays—but nowhere near as okay as it is to laugh at hayseed ignoramuses. And now we have Bruno, an outrageously gay man making fun of... Read more

Proof There’s Someone for Everyone

Last updated on: July 13, 2009 at 2:31 pm By John Shore

Disneyland: The Grand Finale of our Staycation

Last updated on: July 11, 2009 at 7:11 am By John Shore

My wife Cat’s been off all week. So far we’ve been to “Marvin Hamlish Directs the San Diego Symphony’s Summer Pops Music Thing At a Beautiful Outdoor Setting On the Edge of the Stunningly Beautiful San Diego Bay for the Fourth of July (are we old yet?); the Richard Avedon show at the San Diego Museum of Art (which includes a full frontal nude shot of Rudolph Nureyev that makes you wonder how the man ever leaped at all); San... Read more

Proof Things Only Got Worse For the Ugly Duckling

Last updated on: July 10, 2009 at 4:36 am By John Shore

This picture I took yesterday of an Actual Living Bird proves, yet again, that fairy tales lie. Clearly, the Ugly Duckling grew up to be … well, you can see the dismaying truth for yourself. Read more

Where Hobbits Picnic

Last updated on: July 9, 2009 at 7:20 am By John Shore

I hope the Hobbits don’t sneak into my house at night and murder me for showing you this picture I took near my house of where they recreate. (And see that trash can to the right? They never use it. They leave their empty cans of Vienna sausages and ginger ale everywhere.) Related post o’ mine: Threatening Leprechauns Respond! Read more

Five Pros & Cons About Sarah Palin.

Last updated on: July 7, 2009 at 8:15 am By John Shore

1. Sarah is extremely good-looking. Pro: People automatically attribute all kinds of winning and noble personal characteristics (intelligence, wisdom, maverickyness, etc.) to the exceptionally good-looking. Con: It’s too easy for the exceptionally good-looking to automatically attribute such qualities to themselves. 2. Sarah is highly intelligent. Pro: Brains are good. Con: Highly intelligent people who don’t apply themselves to any sort of formal or deeply systematic education always think they’re smarter than they are, and tend to lack humility. 3. Sarah... Read more

Proof God Wants Me to Learn Math

Last updated on: July 5, 2009 at 4:57 am By John Shore

From Budweiser to Hardee’s–And Beyond!

Last updated on: July 3, 2009 at 10:10 am By John Shore

Remember this guy, young Timothy Hornor, whom I interviewed in Interview With an Actor in an Upcoming Bud Superbowl Commercial ?: But of course you remember. You have a mind like a steel trap. That’s why I love you. I said then that Tim would become wildly famous—and (as always) I’m right. At the absolute bare minimum, Tim’s fast becoming That Guy You Saw in That Commercial. Check out his riveting star turn in this Major (if, it must said,... Read more