April 10, 2023 One Sunday morning about fifty years back, I woke up in my dorm room sick to my stomach, with a bad case of the runs besides. Luckily, the student health service at the University of Michigan was only a few blocks away. The doctor was middle-aged, with a grey brush…

March 31, 2023 Design © Janet Stevenson If you’re a zealous coffee drinker, you probably have a favorite mug like my new one above, made of ceramic and memories. The image shows a sunset reflected in the waters of Eastern Lake, one of the rare and beautiful coastal dune lakes in and around…

March 4, 2023 I am a blogger and I am writing about Ron DeSantis. More specifically: about how one of Ron Desantis’s allies wants to force bloggers to register with the state of Florida if they write about Ron DeSantis. As Dave Barry, one of the all-time great Floridians, would say: “I am…

March 3, 2023 When I’m writing, I find inspiration in a wide range of sources. Sometimes I draw on my own experience, as in “Algorithms and Lies,” in which a writer receives a devastating critique from an AI bot / editor. However, today’s world has no monopoly on cruelty and danger. My new…

February 17, 2023 I quit. I’m done. Knocked out. Over. From now on, I shall no longer try to be funny. Before you say, “You mean you’ve been trying?” read my explanation of how AI has meine Emdener Gänse gekocht (cooked my goose, the Emdener being an oft-eaten German breed). …

February 10, 2023 Working from home in retirement is more fun than my former full-time job, but it brings distractions I never encountered in the office. …

February 3, 2023 I know this isn’t pleasant, but let’s travel back to the early days of the pandemic for a minute. You see the headline, “GOP tries to harness anger over Covid,” and think it’s about the wildfire spread of the virus, the chaos, and the dying. Not quite. That article appeared…

January 26, 2023 REPORT OF INVESTIGATION SUBJECT: DAVID “DAVE” SWAN OFFENSE: (ALLEGED) POSSESSION OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS Basis of investigation Agent (redacted) received tip from neighbor that subject used to work for U.S. government, yet plays “un-American music”* on backyard deck and refused to buy MAGA Mints and Sedition Snaps from Proud Girls troop. Exhaustive online probe confirmed federal employment. …

January 16, 2023 If the last three years have taught me anything, it should have been to count my blessings and take nothing for granted. You’ll notice I began this confessional by saying should have. Should have.Shoulda, and definitely coulda. Yet… Tuesday I stepped into the shower, my aging skin and bones eager…