The Myth & The Majesty

It's been a rough week for pop culture. The Academy Award nominations are out, the roughness of which all depends on your point of view. But there have also been some high-profile deaths -- Lemmie, David Bowie, Alan Rickman. I'm hoping these things come in threes and we're done for a bit. So it seems only natural (or preternatural) that the Wait But Why post for this week dives into horizontal history. In this particular post , Tim charts out the birth years and lifespans of people you have likely [hopefully] heard of, thus putting into perspective the world events that said people affected. It's fascinating and more than a little disconcerting to see what all was going on at various times ... and in more recent centuries, the people who could have been friends. Or at least reading what other folks were up to across the globe. I'm just going to send you over there if you haven't already gone . I have some movies to marathon since my favorite Briti

Let's talk for a moment about excess. The Powerball drawing this evening prompted even me to buy a ticket. (Technically a few, in league with others.) So of course the conversation around here -- and on Facebook and just about everywhere else -- is what would you do with over a billion dollars? A billion. A sudden, unexpected billion. ... I don't even know how to wrap my brain around that number. That, my friends, is excessive. The number of tickets we've purchased as a whole. The amount of money that will almost certainly (95% chance or better, according to FiveThirtyEight ) land on someone tonight. The number of things a person could do and buy with that. The number of ways you could totally screw up your life. The number of people that have effectively wasted money ... again. All of it. Absolutely excessive. Of course, it is that very excess that draws us. The chance, no matter how small, and you and you alone get to be That One. The ways your life cou

Raise your hand if you're relieved to see 2015 gone. [Hand up!] Usually at the end of a year like this last one, it's good to take the time to reflect. Ruminate. Figure out what needs to change. This year, I feel like I just need to run away from a bully into what is hopefully the safe shelter of 2016. It started with Dad's heart attack. Included the Bossman's cancer diagnosis. Lots of moves. There were car issues across the board (they seemed to all come at once) and I learned that I just shouldn't rent cars. There were good things, too. My baby brother got married and hey, I paid off my student loans! Basically, it seems that when things were good they were really, really good and when they were bad they were rotten. So it seems only natural that yesterday, on the last day of 2015, while people were having a bunch of fun inside the house, someone went through all of the unlocked cars in my parents' driveway and made off with any cash they found.