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Points of Ordure: Excreta
Skip the B.S. By Skip Eisiminger “It has reached the point where one cannot follow a septic tank ‘stool bus’ without finding an execrable pun. One poker-challenged, toilet-wise trucker boasted that ‘a flush…
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The Greatest Happiness of the Whole: Government
Skip the B.S. By Skip Eisiminger “Thanks to federal, state, and local government oversight, we no longer have to worry about minced rats in our sausage or lead in our gasoline. Paint is…
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Those Rough Spots on Michelangelo’s Marble: Perfection
Skip the B.S. By Skip Eisiminger “Live defensively—the multiverse isn’t perfect.”—The Wordspinner “Glory be to God for dappled things . . . .”—Gerard Manley Hopkins CLEMSON South Carolina—(Weekly Hubris)—11/26/2012—Though Tina Fey recently argued…
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Waltzing to the Second Fiddle: Music
“I have occasionally purchased a CD after hearing a live performance only to be disappointed when I listened at home. There’s something about putting a face with a flamenco guitar or steel-drum set;…
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Rectal-Cranial Transfers: Euphemisms*
“Of course, Sterling was never one to call a spade a spade when he could call it a ‘vulpine-refuge evacuator.’ So the next stop was the US Army where he was issued a…
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Wrestling with the “Shall Knots”: Commandments
“Morality by commandment is fine for children of a certain age, but if their parents abuse them, isn’t honor bestowed on the undeserving perverted? Perhaps right and wrong are more nuanced than Yahweh…
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Is There Someone Else, Narcissus? Self-Love
“In our own celebrity-obsessed culture, where people such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton are ‘famous for being famous,’ one can hardly blame the young who grow up with such role models as…
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Reluctant to Walk One Step Ahead: Competition
“Dad is also competitive, but he is his own worst opponent. When he was 81, he set his mind on shooting his age on the golf course. After a tournament at his club,…
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Squeezed Rats on the Dark Side of the Moon: Belief
“In human and animal psychology, clearly, belief is central. Who can forget those lab rats at Johns Hopkins that were squeezed so hard and long they gave up all hope of survival. When…
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We Request Your Presents at Our Wedding: Materialism
“In 1997, an opinion poll published in Harper’s revealed that 79 percent of Americans had ‘pretty much everything’ they needed. Yet many still lust for Rolexes they dare not wear in the presence…