The Calculus of Future Comics Purchases

A few days ago I decided I just had to tackle the piles of graphic novels sitting on my living room table. I have reluctantly concluded I must go out and buy another bookcase; the question then will be, where will it go? One of the graphic novels among the piles was Batman: Gotham byContinue reading “The Calculus of Future Comics Purchases”

Finding Beauty in Sorrow

In March. when the world was shutting down in the face of COVID-19, Elbow announced two things. First, they were postponing their upcoming live shows due to the pandemic. Sad, but not unexpected, and not something that affected me directly, as the band hadn’t announced an east coast tour. Second, they were releasing a newContinue reading “Finding Beauty in Sorrow”

The Grave of a 19th-Century Astronomer

Before the world went into its COVID-imposed lockdown, I discovered, quite by chance, while reading about Mary Ann Hall, that a photograph of my great-great-grandfather’s gravesite in Washington, DC’s Congressional Cemetery is on Wikipedia. No one but me would care that, in the background of the photo, is the gravesite of William Gardner, but it’sContinue reading “The Grave of a 19th-Century Astronomer”

Questionnare!

Saturday I drove down to Baltimore to visit Loudon Park Cemetery. I hadn’t been since the end of January, it was a nice day, and a cemetery is a place where one can socially distance without much difficulty. I had no idea if I would be able to get into the cemetery; some cemeteries areContinue reading “Questionnare!”

The #elbowrooms Sessions

This week, Elbow released a new live album. Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the band has cancelled their live dates for this spring and summer, so they’ve been posting videos on YouTube of the band, separately, playing some of their songs from home, the #elbowrooms sessions. These aren’t polished, there are occasional fluffs, butContinue reading “The #elbowrooms Sessions”

The Madness of Rob Manfred

Rob Manfred has abandoned reason for madness. For the last few days Major League Baseball has been floating a plan to start baseball next month. At first the plan was for all thirty teams to play in Arizona, making use of spring training facilities, playing in front of empty stadiums. That plan has morphed —Continue reading “The Madness of Rob Manfred”

Completing the Census

It’s 2020, and that means that the decennial Census must be completed. On Wednesday, April 1st, I filled out the Census survey online. And, as I said I would two years ago… As I wrote in that two year-old blog post, “I have decided that I will report that my ancestors come from Grand Fenwick,Continue reading “Completing the Census”

Office Space (Not the Movie)

Over the weekend I spent some time cleaning up my office space in my apartment. If I have to work from home for a couple of weeks, I’m going to need a comfortable environment. When I went out on Saturday for supplies and to pick up my new prescription, I also picked up a tableContinue reading “Office Space (Not the Movie)”

Spring Fever at Week’s End

Even without my alarm clock going off, my bladder “knew” when I normally woke up to go to work, and it roused me at six-thirty. I got up, took care of business, turned on the coffee pot, and opened the apartment’s front door. The clouds were pretty at dawn, and I wanted to capture theContinue reading “Spring Fever at Week’s End”