Q: Every time our doorbell rings my dog Buddy rushes the front door like a maniac! Barking uncontrollably, jumping and scratching at the door. In order to open the front door without him jumping all over our guests, I have to grab Buddy by the collar, open the door, and greet our visitors hunched over. […]
Dear Wised-Up Teenagers – We’ve had a good year. We so trounced our football rivals it made us momentarily sad, and Mr. Fauntleroy’s well-attended production of the classic musical Oklahoma! – or “the cringe cowboys,” to quote one of the more delicate critiques scrawled on the drama room door – was the talk of the […]
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The Wheat and Chessboard legend tells of a king being so thrilled with the invention of chess, he allows the inventor to name his reward. The inventor makes what seems like a small request: Just give me one grain of wheat on the first chessboard square. Two on the next. And just double the number […]
After I needed help getting out of our sagging couch for the umpteenth time, I said yes to my wife’s suggestion we shop for a new one. This was not easy for me. I’m a big believer in longevity, super glue and duct tape. When Pat and I got married one stipulation was that none […]
After the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in March 1979, a strong movement formed against nuclear power. Nuclear power had been pitched after the 1953 Atoms for Peace speech as “energy too cheap to meter.” Suddenly, the price was too high to meter. I then attended a rally where a speaker noted that no one […]
Life is a continuum. From birdsong to bombardiers, from Charlie Bucket to Veruca Salt, from manna to inopportune picnic lightning – our time on the Earth’s surface is a bewildering maelstrom, a crapshoot. When I was but a child (your weekly clenched sigh here, reader) I saw that the world was aswirl with this strangeness. […]
Spectator sports have rarely held much interest for me for a variety of reasons. But recently I came across this concept that may explain why: “Participatory in feeling. Passive in outcome.” Sports fans will often say something like “We beat the Patriots” or “We’re Number One.” Of course, the fan was usually just sitting on […]
In the iconic Weimar swan-song movie Cabaret, liberal-democratic 1933 Deutschland throws itself a final champagne-soaked party before the Nazis come in and churlishly stomp the balloons with their jackboots. In one of the film’s most famous scenes, a satin-draped Liza Minnelli delivers, from the stage of a nightclub, a vivid 11th-hour lecture on the evils […]
“Everyone needs to believe in something. I believe I will have another beer.” This bumper sticker really made me laugh. In Through the Looking Glass the White Queen proudly tells Alice “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Having grown up in a secular humanist family, the idea of believing […]
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The song goes something like… “Though April showers may come your way, they bring the flowers that bloom in May.” Obviously, that’s an eastern song. In Santa Barbara it’s more like… “Though February deluges may fill our needs, in March we’re stuck with hella weeds.” I have bonsai trees. This being repotting season, I’m taking […]
A reader writes: What inspired Jeff Wing to become an Astrophysicist? – Demonstrably Disquisitive in Downtown Diner Dear Demostrangmuh…Dear Reader, Thanks so much for your question. I don’t know how many of your fellow villagers are aware of my Astrophysicist status. Your published question makes it easier for me to broadcast this bit of personal […]
It’s been a while, Montecito Journal readers. If this is your first time reading the Dear Montecito column–welcome! This column serves as a space to uplift young community members, from middle schoolers to marine biologists, and put a spotlight on their passions and interests for the Montecito and Santa Barbara community. As for myself, I’m […]
Our country seems very divided now. But who are the sides in this divide? It turns out that the 2024 election would have gone to Harris over Trump in a 58-40% landslide. If just one group were removed from the electorate. Which group? White evangelical and born-again Christians. Of which, 82% voted for Trump. We […]
You may know the following quote from German pastor Martin Niemöller. More about him below. “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. […]
