One of the most valuable things I learned early on from psychologist Robert Boice who studied academic productivity was that a writer must write, every day. But most people find writing to not be appealing and it is easy to find excuses to not write because pretty much anything can seem more urgent and appealing (doing the laundry, cutting the grass, sorting paper clips) when compared to writing. Some also feel that inspiration has to strike for them to write.
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The area known as University Circle on the eastern edge of Cleveland is home to a significant portion of the city’s cultural, education, and medical services. Case Western Reserve University where I used to work is located there, as well as the city’s museums of art, modern art, natural history, automotive history, and Severance Hall, the beautiful home of the Cleveland Orchestra. The area also hosts two massive hospital complexes, University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic. All these institutions have resulted in a rapid growth in housing stock and this in turn has spawned new retail and shopping and eating options. The area has seen massive changes since I arrived here nearly three decades ago.
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The sacked defense secretary of the UK Gavin Williamson said that he was the victim of a ‘kangaroo court’ that unfairly blamed him for a leak from the National Security Council. The term ‘kangaroo court’ is so common that its strangeness slipped past me and until now I had never wondered where such unusual turn of phrase might have come from. It is only after I had made that post that the thought occurred to me: Why kangaroo? What has that animal done to become synonymous with an unfair judicial proceeding where the normal procedures of justice are perverted so that the outcome is determined is even before proceedings start?

You would think that the term originated in Australia but its first recorded use in print was in the US back in 1853. The origins are unclear but Merriam Webster has some theories.
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Once in a while, one needs to actually send a physical letter. For those of you for whom this is an unfamiliar exercise, this involves writing or typing (and then printing) the message, addressing an envelope, sealing the envelope, putting a stamp, and then popping it in the mail box.

Do you find that process onerous? Rob Beschizza says that there is a company that will do all that for you for a cost that starts at $1.52 per letter. All you have to do is email them the text of the letter and the address you want it sent to.

This may be the beginning of a new class of service industries for retro services.

Recently I was at an airport waiting for a plane. I noticed a young woman a few seats down from me who was taking one selfie after another of just herself in a pretty ordinary waiting area. She had her back to me so I could see the photos she was taking on her camera and they seemed pretty much all the same but clearly she was seeking the perfect photo because she must have taken around 20 before she was satisfied.
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Cleveland is my hometown but I am not the best person to tell visitors what to do and see while here since I am not a particularly touristy kind of person. So I was grateful for this review of the city by William O’Connor that points out some of the places worth seeing, most of which I have not been to.

I noticed that today we did not get even a single robocall, though on any given day they usually number around 10. I also noticed that today is both Good Friday and Passover and I was wondering if it was more than a coincidence and that the callers declared a truce on this religious holiday. I cannot imagine that they have such sensitivities given that they are willing to annoy the hell out of people. And also, many of the places where these calls originate are overseas and thus may not have many Christian or Jewish employees who take today off.

On the other hand, today I got a sudden influx of spam comments on the blog, something that occurs very rarely.

I was curious if any readers also noted an absence of robocalls today.

The lack of posting today is due to the fact that I have not been feeling well. It is nothing serious but it struck me that there few ways to describe how one feels when one does not have a full-blown flu or cough or cold but have just mild symptoms of one or more, which was my case. The word ‘blah’ is close in spirit but not very elegant.

The old-fashioned phrase ‘under the weather’ sort of captures the feeling but not quite since it can be used to denote having the flu as well. While thinking about this while trying to sleep, suddenly the phrase ‘one degree under’ popped into my mind. I think I heard it when I was a boy in England and it was used in TV ads to promote the use of ‘tonics’ which I think must have been some kind of energy drink to deal with this low feeling. These tonics were quite popular in those days but one does not see them advertised as much in the US. Maybe they are still popular in the UK.

‘One degree under’ captures the idea of not feeling quite normal but nothing serious. Maybe a scale could be developed of varying degrees under to signify the level of seriousness. One puzzle is why it is ‘under’ since mild flu symptoms would lead to a small rise in temperature. I don’t know if the phrase ‘one degree over’ could be made popular.

There is a heartwarming story of people working on an oil rig 220 km from the coast of Thailand who spotted an exhausted looking dog paddling in the water. They rescued the dog, washed off the salt water, nursed him back to health, and then sent him back on a tanker that was heading to shore, where the dog was taken to a vet’s and is reportedly doing well. They suspect that the dog was swept overboard from a fishing trawler.

There are plenty of nice photographs at the link.

And since I am thinking about dogs, here’s a comic strip involving dogs.

I have mentioned before my surprise that spectators at golf tournaments will line up at places where an errant shot could cause a serious injury. The relative scarcity of such injuries is a testament to the expertise of top golfers who rarely hit wild shots, though it can happen even with world class golfers.

But in the video below, a golfer is seen hitting two consecutive shots off the tee into almost the same spot in the crowd, injuring people. It looks almost deliberate, a suspicion accentuated by the fact that she did not go over to the first person she hit to make sure she was ok. But surely no one would do such a thing deliberately?