It’s been a while since WC sorted through his mail and shared the printable questions and comments with readers. As expected, the NRA series provoked a lot of poorly written, obscenity-laced emails and comments, all of which WC has deleted. WC isn’t about to have a battle of wits with an unarmed, illiterate man and,…
Today is the fifth anniversary of WC’s and Mrs. WC’s move from Fairbanks, Alaska to Boise, Idaho. On August 18, 2015, WC pulled up at the house in Boise purchased two years earlier, and began moving in. WC will use the anniversary to reflect on the pluses and minuses of leaving Alaska and moving to…
The month June wore a face mask and passed nearly unnoticed. In other ways, in the cascade of unrelenting insanity from the White House, it seemed to go on forever. Anyway, it’s time for a look back at developments on old posts, almost posts and stuff that caught WC’s magpie sensibility. Disclaimer: No journalism was…
WC is under lock down, like most Americans. The news is full of COVID-19 news, advice and alarm. So this month’s recap of stories missed, stories revisited and shiny baubles will be very nearly COVID-19 free. One of WC’s readers, with far too much time on their hands, read WC’s blog post from early 2015…
WC had lazy summer afternoons in junior high school that lasted longer than 2019. As WC gets older, the years just seem to flicker by. But it doesn’t stop WC from wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas.
With any luck at all, the country will survive Donald Trump and again be something to be proud of. We can hope, at least. But this July 4 is one to let pass quietly, ignoring the president’s crypto-fascist conduct and working for better, Trump-free times. Happy 243rd Birthday, America. And many more.
If you didn’t grow up in a household influenced by a Swedish grandmother, or haven’t been to Sweden, you may not know what a smörgåsbord is. Certainly none of the American efforts to establish smörgåsbord restaurants here appear to have survived contact with Americans. A smörgåsbord is “a celebratory meal and guests can help themselves…
WC’s virtual mailbox is overflowing; there have been complaints from the email host. So WC will undertake to answer a few questions and delete lots and lots of emails. Questions are in italics; WC’s responses in plain text. Hey snowflake, how come you’re afraid of a real man as president? WC lived in Alaska for…
Well, Paradise, Idaho, anyway, to do a little glamping. Blog posts will be irregular, at best, until he gets back.
It’s once again time for a half-hearted nod to due diligence as WC attempts to follow-up on earlier blog posts. It’s not journalism; it’s not even close to journalism. But it may demonstrate WC is paying attention. Long-time reader Larry McGee reports seeing a Miller ’20 bumpersticker on a beater pickup recently. Bad Penny has come…
WC has apparently confused folks by describing his approach to this blog as the embodiment of the Magpie Principle. While we live in confusing times, WC doesn’t want to unnecessarily contribute to that confusion. So let’s see if WC can explain his reference. (WC has used the term – sometimes as “magpie sensibility” – to…
WC doesn’t envy anyone who attempts English as a second language. The language is riddled with euphemisms, words with multiple meanings and contextual defined term. As just one example, let’s use a term WC blogged about recently, “yard birds.” WC meant bird species seen in his yard. But “yard birds” has other meanings. There’s the…
Ten years ago today, on November 29, 2008, the first blog post on Wickersham’s Conscience went live. That post was read in the first week by . . . a total of eight readers. The U.S. and, for that matter, most of the world, was mired in George W. Bush’s recession, Barack Obama had just…
The Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year for 2018 is toxic. No, wait, that’s confusing. The word of the year is the adjective “toxic.” The Word of the Year isn’t itself toxic. “Toxic” joins “youthquake” (lame), “post-truth,” “vape” and “selfie,” all recent Oxford Dictionary Words of the Year. Prior winners also include “refudiate,” a Palinism,…
Long time readers of Wickersham’s Conscience know that at irregular intervals WC tries to follow-up on topics discussed earlier. It’s not systematic and it’s certainly not due diligence, But readers may be interested in what has happened since on some subjects, so here’s an effort. Nor is it stump grinding, but we’ll get to that…
It’s time for one of WC’s irregular nods to journalism and diligence. While the Magpie Principle usually rules around here, sometimes foggy memories of WC’s one journalism class emerge and you get a post like this. So here are some follow-ups, nods and quibbles on stuff WC has written about earlier. No less venerable an…
Another anniversary. Not fun, perhaps, but consider the alternative.
WC has been very, very serious lately. Extinct species. Sociopathic congressmen. Monomaniacal gun nuts. WC will lighten up a bit, and at the same time preserve for posterity a classic birthday practical joke. WC presents, in very nearly its original form, Bird Banding Barbie. In that long, dark time between Christmas Bird Count and Spring,…
WC has fallen behind in his email again. It’s past time to sort through the contents. Reader A. Nonny Mouse notes that Texas is walking down the same path as Oklahoma, with the same results: if you dispose of oil well fluids by injecting them into the ground you trigger earthquakes. Even in country that…
Since he was just a pup, about 30-45 minutes after wolfing down a Thanksgiving turkey dinner, WC would be asleep on the couch. In the late 1970′s, a physiologist who was WC’s Thanksgiving guest explained it as a reaction to all of the tryptophan in turkey meat. Just before he dropped off to sleep. As…
