thisiswhatyoushalldo

1. Dogs don’t seem to get tired of barking. What is an equivalent human superpower?

Doom scroll social media

2. Without naming the city where you were born, what is that city famous for?

“Nut Cuttin’ time!”

3. What’s the perfect album opener of all time?

“More Than A Feeling” Boston from “Boston” A fantastic debut.

4. What is the dumbest thing that can be built out of Lego?

Artemis III

5. What smartphones evolve into, or will they disappear?

1. As an adult, at work or home, when was the last time you used algebra?

I honestly don’t think I have at work. I am sure that in some measurements for building or fixing something around the house, I have used some version of algebra, but I can’t be sure. I am good at basic arithmetic, but I am not very well-versed in any form of mathematics, such as algebra, calculus, trigonometry, or geometry.

2. Did you learn to use the “Oxford” comma in school? Do you use it as an adult?

I wasn’t taught to use that, and after a time in J-school and working as a reporter, well, editors broke me of that habit as well as two spaces after a period, which I was taught in typing class, both in high school and in the army. That is also a no-no in the editorial style of journalism.

3. As a kid, there were always jokes about carrying extra underwear in case of an accident. Do you still follow this advice?

I am quite clumsy and perhaps sharing too much, but I tend to get bloated guts due to some medications I take. As a result, I have a full set of backup clothes at my desk at the office.

4. When you read, do you move your lips?

I don’t think so, but the question reminds me of this odd bird that I had in an English class in high school. His name was John Pogline, and our last names were close enough that we sat next to each other in classrooms where the seating chart was alphabetical. Anyway, sitting next to him, I would notice that whenever he read, he would almost violently move his head back and forth as he gazed at the page, almost as if his eyes didn’t move and instead he moved his head to read across a page. (He is also now in prison for murdering his landlord, but that is a whole different story.

5. I am a couple of weeks late on this, but what was your favorite Oscar™ nominated movie?

“On Battle After Another.” When I finished that movie, I looked up and said, “Well, that one is going to win all the Oscars.” It would have been great if Thomas Pynchon (who wrote the source novel “Vineland”, which the movie was based on) had come up to the stage to claim an award. Pynchon is this really mysterious writer who no one has seen in person since the late 1950s or something like that. Too bad that didn’t happen.

1. What do you think will immediately happen when everyone receives the push notification that he has died?

“Celebration” by Kool and the Gang shoots to the top, and hospital emergency rooms will fill up with injuries from flying champagne corks.

2. What celebrity is the biggest example of “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it”?

Kevin Spacey

3. What industry is entirely built on a house of cards and would collapse overnight if people realized the truth about it?

BitCoin and blockchain e-currency

4. What has been the best day of your life?

Sitting fourth row mid home stretch at the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs for my 50th birthday.

5. If money didn’t exist, what would people fight over?

It’s back to the world of “Settlers of Cattan” and battles and wars over resources. Hell, “The Orange One” is already doing that.

haven’t blogged for a few weeks. On March ,my long-time blog buddy, blog reader Kevin Lang, known on these pages by my tens of readers as “Lono,” lost his hard-fought 14-month battle with Leukemia.

For decades, my Thursday evening/Friday morning began with sending this week’s Friday Fives questions to Kevin, who would then answer them and post them on his own blog.

For the last few weeks, taking on the task of gathering a few questions to post and then posting them to my blog felt like an empty task without first sending them off to his home near Elizabeth/Exuban Parker.

We all miss him terribly, and although we all knew the end was nearing when he decided to go into pain management and hospice care after an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant, many, many attempts of chemo and radiation, and unsuccessful drug trials.

A wise kid I have working for me, but Kevin’s passing in a very succinct way to handle the loss: “they may be gone, but not lost, as their story isn’t finished until those that carry the memory are/”

And that is the way I am holding on to my lost brother.

We will meet again, Kevin.

Shalom.

1. What’s a fad/trend from the early 2020s that faded so quickly you can barely remember it?
Spotify used to have this weird car gadget that would plug into your car, but that was dropped about the time that streaming music apps became ubiquitous,s and they dropped the product so fast you barely saw it coming.,

2. What’s a fad/ trend from the 1990s that faded so quickly you can barely remember it?

Nextel phones with the Direct Connect walkie-talkie. Those were pretty cool, and I’d love to have a way to bring that technology back, but they got bullied out of their bandwidth.

3. What was that thing that was such a big deal from your high school years?

Blow-dried hair and silkie disco shirts

4. What were all the cool kids doing in your middle school years?

Listening to music on the new cool tech known as cassettes.

5. What fad/trend were your parents into when you were a kid that, looking back, caused you to say, “Man, those guys are weird?

They were really into the Jaycees – like it was their entire life and social scene. They went to conferences and conventions all the time and participated in locally sponsored events – there was always something. Obsessed.