A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the second part of a sentence or phrase turns out to be surprising or unexpected. Often they make us smile. Where there’s a will, I want to be part of it. I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming in terror like the passengers in his… Read more »
The year 1968 had already been traumatic. In January, the Tet Offensive had awakened America to the hopelessness of Vietnam. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were felled by assassins’ bullets during the spring. The summer was racked by rioting and protests, Czechoslovakia’s futile revolt against the Soviet Union, and the chaos of the Democratic National Convention in… Read more »
If you are a parent or grandparent, what Hollywood movie character would you least like the little ones in your life to emulate? One of the primary candidates would have to be Veruca Salt, that disturbingly self-centered brat from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Midway through the classic film, she insists on seizing one of Wonka’s geese that lays… Read more »
Walter Cronkite, the long-time CBS anchor who became “America’s most trusted voice,” lived into his early 90s. His affable spirit, commitment to journalistic integrity, and deep love for his wife Betsy never faltered. His hearing was a different matter. Betsy was fond of telling about the time when the two of them, late in life, walked into a little grocery… Read more »
The Matterhorn is a mountain like no other. At 14,692 feet, it’s hardly the tallest peak in the world. In fact, it’s only the 12th highest summit in the Alps, and barely cracks the global list of the top 400. But the Matterhorn is hands-down the most photographed peak on the planet, not least because of its striking resemblance to… Read more »
In his 1970 book Habitation of Dragons, Keith Miller tells about a memorable conversation in a small group of adults who were struggling to learn how to follow Jesus. As part of a get-acquainted exercise, each member shared something about his or her childhood. Miller writes: “One older lady had had a good many disappointments and seemed bitter about her past. … Read more »
What’s wrong with this picture? An adult Reed Warbler is feeding a humungous chick that is straddling the entirety of the tiny warbler nest. That’s because the chick isn’t a Reed Warbler. It’s a Common Cuckoo, a European species known for its “brood parasite strategy.” To put it another way, cuckoos are squatters. They force other birds to raise their… Read more »
“Once upon a time, something happened to someone and he decided that he would pursue a goal. So he devised a plan of action. And even though there were forces trying to stop him, he moved forward, because there was a lot at stake. And just as things seemed as bad as they could get, he learned an important lesson. … Read more »
One of the charms of the Golden Gate Bridge is that it almost appears to be fragile. That’s astonishing – especially since it sits alongside the San Andreas Fault, one of the most active geological features in North America. But engineers are convinced that the bridge is probably the safest place to be the next time San Francisco is rocked… Read more »
Four weeks ago America lost its most famous test pilot. Chuck Yeager, who lived to be 97, was the first human being confirmed to have exceeded Mach 1, piloting the Bell X-1 jet faster than the speed of sound in 1947. A few years later, when Yeager was testing an F-86 Sabre, he executed a roll – a standard… Read more »