One of the unexpected aspects of Ron Chernow's biography of Ulysses S. Grant is the role that petty jealousy played in 19th-century society.  I'm not surprised that there was jealousy, that's always been part of human nature, but I'm a little surprised how careless folks were about showing it. Mary Todd Lincoln was a famous … Continue reading Jealousy

As I mentioned earlier, Keillor's collection of Good Poems has a few poems that are more than merely good.  W.S. Merwin does not want for acclaim.  Nor does this, perhaps his most famous, poem. It's really good. For the Anniversary of My Death Every year without knowing it I have passed the day When the … Continue reading More Than Good

I've started on The Collected Works of Lydia Davis.  Ms. Davis is a pretty wonderful writer.  She's a close, but wry, observer of the emotions of human frailty.  Here is my favorite passage from "Mr. Burdoff's Visit to Germany": "Now Mr. Burdoff feels a growing attraction to the Hawaiian woman, who has moved to a … Continue reading Mr. Burdoff’s Visit to Germany

In the era of Moneyball, nerds are taking over baseball front offices.  Some of those nerds are women.  Yesterday, the Cardinals' front office hired Emily Wiebe as a baseball analyst. http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman--year-old-s-love-of-baseball-leads-her/article_56d0b8ef-f944-56c8-9517-37141d38494f.html There are a lot of nerds competing to get their foot in the door at baseball.  I like that Ms. Wiebe did it by … Continue reading Emily Wiebe – Nerd

Last night we finished the last of Keillor's collection of Good Poems. We're moving on to the Mary Oliver poems that Beth bought me last summer for my birthday.  But, before we move on, a poem from Gerard Manley Hopkins, featuring the sprung rhythm that he took from Welsh poetry, entitled "Spring". I love the … Continue reading “Spring” has sprung: A treat from Gerard Manley Hopkins

If you are looking for something to lift your spirits during these short days and long nights, I can recommend Ron Chernow's biography of Ulysses S. Grant. It is hard to imagine a sadder sad sack than Grant at the outset of the Civil War.  Grant was notorious for his seedy, worn clothing and shambolic … Continue reading Ulysses S. Grant

Foreword Every night in bed before we turn out the light, Beth and I read a poem together.  In 2002, Garrison Keillor put together a collection of poems that he had featured on The Writer's Almanac entitled Good Poems.  The title is appropriate.  There are a few really good ones and a few not so … Continue reading An Irascible Poem by an Irascible Poet

My brother John was a very diligent reader. Someone told him that if you read ten pages per day, you can read the complete works of Marcel Proust in one year. So he did. And then he kept reading. John got through a lot of books. In 2006, for example, he listed 52 books in … Continue reading The Hot Kid

Now that Midnight's Children has released me from the grip of Shiva's powerful knees, I've added The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis to my rotation.  Much more to my liking. Ms. Davis has a very spare style that makes every word count.  Last night I began "Story" from her 1986 collection of short stories called … Continue reading A Novel In One Sentence

Yesterday, we talked about investor optimism and how it can be measured in Price/Earnings or PE ratios.  We also discussed the application of PE ratios to stock indices such as the S&P 500 and the use of a cyclically adjusted PE ratio (CAPE) to try to measure how optimistic investors are today about stock prices … Continue reading VIX or The Price of Insurance