“The S&P 500, the most widely followed proxy for the U.S. stock market, has returned a negative 22.7 percent, including dividends, this year through Thursday, according to FactSet. In the same period, the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index, the most widely used benchmark for the broad, diversified investment-grade U.S. bond market, has returned a negative 14.4 percent.”
When it comes to the written word, I cherish brevity. Friday night after dinner I was watching television downstairs while the Good Wife, the good daughters, and Meg, the Eldest’s good partner, were all upstairs in the kitchen cackling about, as it turned out, Meg mindlessly putting the Gal Pal’s last puzzle piece in the jigsaw The Good Wife had been working on for three months. Among other things.
So I decided to write a story about the evening from my downstairs perspective. I couldn’t really make out their dialogue, so I improvised. Ready?
“And hilarity ensued.”
Pretty damn good, huh?! My story left the Good Wife perplexed. I admitted it lacked character development, but that wasn’t enough of a concession for her. She said a story has to have a beginning, middle, and end. I will not be boxed in, so I will not be rewriting it.
So I suppose I should give the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers some credit for their brevity, but their back of helmet two-word slogan, “Inspire Change”, couldn’t be more vapid.
What’s wrong with “Inspire Change”? First and foremost, it’s hella vague. What kind of change exactly are we to inspire? Heaven help us if it’s Florida-DeSantis change. Without specifying, are we to assume it’s change just for the sake of change? If that’s the case, the Bucs need not worry because change is INEVITABLE. Thus making the slogan utterly unnecessary.
Bonus football observation from the second half of Sunday’s Seattle Seahawks-Detroit Lions shootout. Apparently, to play tight end in the NFL it’s not enough to be 6’6″, run like the wind, and have great hands. You also have to have REALLY long hair. Who knew?
Best 30-minute television episode of all time. Atlanta, Season 4, Episode 2. I’m dreading the end of this final season.
The Seattle Mariner’s are headed to the post season.
AAPL’s stock price is cratering.
UCLA’s football team played some defense.
The seven day forecast is for more summer.
“We all need to work together, regardless of party lines,” Mr. DeSantis said on Fox News on Tuesday night, adding that he was “thankful” for the Biden administration’s assistance. “The administration wants to help,” he said. “They realize this is a really significant storm.”
From The New York Times.
A Russian solider, Sergey, to his girlfriend.
“We detained them, undressed them and checked all their clothes.Then a decision had to be made whether to let them go. If we let them go, they could give away our position….So it was decided to shoot them in the forest.“
Girlfriend:
“Did you shoot them?“
Sergey:
“Of course we shot them.”
Girlfriend:
“Why didn’t you take them as prisoners?“
Sergey:
“We would have had to feed them, and we don’t have enough food ourselves, you see.”
“And take on more of the attitudes that a lot of immigrants come into this nation with almost automatically.”
Tweet to ponder.
This is one of the Former Guy’s better ideas. We all lack self esteem and could use more positivity in our lives. In fact, I’m going to adopt this practice. So I’m now hiring. Since I’m not quite the public figure the Former Guy is, I will expect more direct positive reinforcement especially when on the golf course.
If you think you can say, “Great shot Ron, that tree had no business being there, the course architect is a sad (sick) person.” Or “Amazing round Ron, so much winning, the LIV Tour should sign you.” Then please apply. There’s no actual compensation, but being in my presence is priceless.
