TEN RANDOM THOUGHTS #6

1. There’s great joy in serving somebody their first pierogi and watching them discover an Instant Classic. It takes on an added poignancy when the person you’re serving is in her mid-thirties, grew up in a town with nearly as many Poles as Warsaw, and still had never heard of pierogi before.
2. I have no idea why I feed stray cats. It just makes them dependent and it makes them want to rub up against you. That’s fine, but I’m violently allergic to cats. I guess it’s their pathetic little voices; I can’t say no to them.
3. Having Saddam Hussein call an Iraqi court illegitimate is sort of like having William Hung tell you you can’t sing very well–it’s more than vaguely ironic, until you realize you’re dealing with a master in the topic at hand.
4. I don’t think intelligent people should use words like “moonbat” or “wingnut” in political discourse. Given that the nastiness of politics is an oft-cited reason why more people don’t participate politically, such terms seem to me to be a form of political intimidation. I’m not saying these terms have no use–though I certainly do not condone any attempt at disparaging one’s ideological enemies–but I do think that these words indicate that what a person is engaging in is not intelligent discourse; it’s just preaching to the choir. I mean, if I walked around talking about “atheidiots” you’d be right to look down on me, no? So why’s it OK to slam the party you don’t belong to with a similarly aggressive (if more obscure) term? The net effect is the same–it limits your audience to only those who already agreed with you. And what’s the point of that?
5. Attention everybody: Krispy Kremes are just doughnuts. Nothing more. Please stop treating them like they’re Faberge eggs.
6. Is there a sports fan out there who’s not enthralled by the prospect of Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski coaching the Lakers next year? Because you know it would bring down two of the most hated dynasties in basketball.
7. For that matter, how do you get “Shuh-SHEF-ski” out of “Krzyzewski,” and does it really mean “Tim Floyd” in some Eastern European language?
8. Speaking of dynasties that need to go away, am I the only person out there who thinks Emeril is well into his sixteenth or seventeenth minute?
9. I have a terrific defense for Calvin Murphy, but I’m sure Jay Leno has already thought of it.
10. It’s really funny how Bill Cosby started his career as Noah and seems determined to end it as Elijah.

WOW.

Color this unlikely: Wilco’s new album, A Ghost Is Born, debuted at #8 on the pop charts this week.