A man named Joseph Epstein wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal where he said President-Elect Biden’s wife, Jill, should stop calling herself “Doctor” since she isn’t an MD. I’d like to suggest that there are lots of more important things to worry about, and while Mr. Epstein is certainly free to express his opinion, it isn’t really any of his business. Jill Biden has an earned EdD from the University of Delaware, not an MD. While it isn’t common for people with academic doctorates to call themselves Doctor outside of academia, it isn’t unheard of either. You can also call her first lady (beginning January 20, 2021) or professor if you like, but I think it’s absolutely fine for people to call themselves whatever they like. I know several people who have changed their names over the years, and I do my best to get used to that as fast as possible and call them what they call themselves.
President Trump was quoted in the NY Post today as saying his fight to overturn November’s election results isn’t over. I’m not a lawyer, or a judge, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be over tomorrow when the Electoral College meets and votes on who’s going to be President next month.
Maybe I should be flattered, but I’m not. Almost every one of the limited images published in this blog are photos taken by me, the owner of the blog, and the photographer. Not that it’s been a big problem, but the blog is copyrighted, and so are the pictures, individually. Some wanker is offering them up on his or her website as free wallpaper for your computer or phone. The pictures are credited to my website, but there are so many I can’t see how they can be classified as fair use. Plus, nobody asked me, or paid me. A DCMA notice asking that they be removed has been sent.
Details on product listings at Amazon.com are frustratingly incomplete. I’m a luddite who still buys audio CD’s, but Amazon no longer feels it necessary to provide track listings. Especially on compilation CD’s I won’t buy it if I can’t find a track listing. My wife wants to buy Reynolds Wrap in the 18-inch width. Every listing on Amazon for Reynolds Wrap includes the number of square feet in the package, which is important. However, the width of the foil is important too, so let’s have it in the product description.
It’s possible I now have too much Christmas music. I own 22 copies of “White Christmas,” 29 copies of “Silent Night” in English. I probably have a few copies in German around here someplace too. And, I have 33 copies of “The Christmas Song,” but I don’t own Mel Torme’s version, and he wrote it! I just can’t buy Christmas music as fast as it’s being recorded. In the first place, nobody needed to record “The Christmas Song,” after Nat King Cole did it. “Silent Night” and “White Christmas” are fine songs (although “Holiday Inn” leaves a lot to be desired as a movie), but these three are among the many songs we really don’t need any additional versions of.
I haven’t gotten anything that looks like a real comment from a real person on this blog in more than four years. That’s okay. I haven’t done anything to promote the blog and I’m doing it for my own entertainment. If you’re entertained too, that’s nice, but not essential. I got quite a few generic compliments on my blog item from early November entitled “The Lieutenant.” But they all came from one website and that website can’t be accessed by the general public. So, I’m assuming those are from bots too, testing to see if I’ll put up any and all comments. I won’t. Comments on this blog are welcomed. They are moderated too. Decisions of the moderator (me) are not only final, they’re also random.
I mentioned it before the election, so I might as well mention the result: Voters in Rhode Island did vote to drop “and Providence Plantations” from the official state name. You can now just call it Rhode Island, especially since you already did that before the name was officially changed.
The website classmates.com was an interesting idea, but it became kind of obsolete due to My Space and later Facebook. Still, I occasionally get a notice from classmates.com that someone has remembered me and described that memory. Three people have done that in the past year. I’m flattered that someone remembers me as attractive. However, I apparently didn’t make much of an impression on my classmates because one remembered me as outdoorsy and another remembered me as soft-spoken. I wonder who they’re confusing me with.
With President Trump now destined to leave the White House, whether he acknowledges it or not, here’s another way to make America great again: get the people who make ice cream to go back to selling it in half-gallon containers.
