They say no one reads anything on Friday, but you don’t have to read much here. I nearly gave in to Substack’s Chat app. I sent a chat last night and deleted it, because we don’t need another app in our face. The whole point of a newsletter is you can read it (or not) whenever. So what fun stuff do I got for you today?
Jean Shepherd, the late-night radio genius turned homespun writer of Americana best remembered for A Christmas Story, filmed this paean to the "slob road" of Route 22 in New Jersey, still voted the worst highway in our state. I aspire to Shepherditude. He was a gift to us all.
And now you know him. The stories that became A Christmas Story are in his book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.
Social media has its place, for sharing goofy videos and witty bon mots.
Like this one, goofing on my favorite scene from Commando:
I’m not deactivating my Twitter account. I did that briefly, but I’m not giving that site to Phony Stark1 and the nazis. I spent fifteen years there. In some states, my account can drive.
Oh, do you play Wordle? I start with it every morning. But recently, it was given to an editor. It was supposedly completely random beforehand, with a pruned word list so possibly offensive words were not used. The editor got cute, with solutions like “FEAST” on Thanksgiving Day (ignoring that the game was made by Josh Wardle who is not American, and players are from all over the world) and people are annoyed. So am I. This week, we got a few solutions that felt more like the old days, so the editor has heard our cry.
That’s enough for today. That, and my friend Neliza Drew rescued a kitten from a highway onramp. The little kitty needs surgery for a broken femur. If you’d like to assist with vet bills, she has a Patreon where she shares videos of her rescued muscovy ducks, cats, and also chapters from her crime novel about teenage Davis Grove, who is trying to keep her sister and her mentally ill mom and from homelessness. It’s a great read, so far.
Thank you, Johnny, for this gag on Elon Musk. And I know how you adore my footnotes. They are wide footnotes.
I updated this post with a photo of Nyx the kitten, safe home after surgery.
OMG you are hysterically funny. Such a trip down memory lane. I mean slob-lane. I grew up in Berkeley Heights near Route 22. I was terrified of that road when I first learned to drive. (Still kind of am.) My Dad taught briefly at the renowned duCret School of Art which was featured in the video. But did I miss Snuffy’s Pantagis Renaissance???