NY Times induced rant

I love the Times. I wish I could get it at home daily but it is too expensive and "it comes too often". I would be behind in only a few days. As it is, I skim the front page most days. And I buy an occasional Sunday edition when there is a long article in the magazine I want to read but is too long to read online.

One of my favorite sections is the obits. It is rare to find no one interesting to read about. Some are familiar and many are previously unknown but fascinating. How else would I have come to know Ruth Wallis, who sounds like quite a lively character. I would love to have met Ruth, wouldn't you?

Her signature number, “The Dinghy Song,” is an ode to Davy, who had “the cutest little dinghy in the Navy.” In 2003, Ms. Wallis’s work was the basis of an off-Broadway revue, “Boobs! The Musical: The World According to Ruth Wallis.”

After reading that I had to find The Dinghy Song on YouTube and here it is.

Today, however, I found 2 stories that just irritated me.

First, older first-time parents have to compromise their high-design dreams to accommodate the mess that children are. You can just hear the shrill "Stop! Don't touch that!" that those poor babies must listen to constantly. I understand mourning the loss of your pre-baby life, at least for awhile. My experience is that the first sight of that zeesa punim* makes everything fade into the background.

“I’m very concerned with what’s in my visual space. When people come into the house, I very much do not want them being bombarded with toys.”

Oh my G-d, children might be here!

Finally, my grumpyself was righteously validated by this article, Dumb and Dumber: Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge?

Not only are citizens ignorant about essential scientific, civic and cultural knowledge, she said, but they also don’t think it matters.

Don't think it matters? I think they are damn proud of it! An incurious president - an incurious public. A thoughtful, intelligent president - no, scary. Who would want to have a beer with someone like that? And, of course, it is essential to elect a president with whom you would like to share a beer.

Well, enough of my ranting. I need some deer to wander by to divert me. PRM

* I'm taking chances when I start using Yiddish. Is that the correct phrase? How do you spell that?