The AP US History teacher at my high school (class of ‘04) was an O-line coach and Army National Guard dude who loved Andrew Jackson and would shout, “Shut up!” if you asked about The Trail of Tears. I can’t imagine doing homework for whatever that dude has become.

Jerry would miss. You’d live out your life as a member of The Lost Generation, trying to convince Gertrude Stein that posting (aka placing classified ads in the New York Herald that say, “teeth are the bones of the mouth, call Bakersfield 159”) is art, and drinking Hemingway under the table.

I enjoyed this, and appreciated the opportunity to think about CK. For an artist who was so great - and whose show remains influential - I simply have not missed him since that post-scandal special. You’re right that he sorted for a particular audience and got it.

I’ll never stop believing that Icebreaker mints first came in that circular case so it looked like you kept a tin of Kodiak in your pocket. The long tail of candy cigarettes.

My first job at 13 was mowing weeds at a boat factory. All summer long, clocking in and clocking out with the classic punchcard, I said hello to this dude whose tongue was stapled to his lower jaw to graft a new lip after he beat dip cancer.

This is why you play Trivial Pursuit: to channel a childhood awareness of adult preoccupations to play for the win against family. (I am reminded now of the time my mother came into the living room while Conan was doing an Abe Vigoda bit and told me she thought Fish was funnier than Barney Miller.)

Now that’s a humblebrag

Five minutes?

Van Halen’s rider has a long tail

It also feels like maybe he’s grinding an axe over a yard chore he didn’t want that she made him take

Olivia Nuzzi hiked the Appalachian Trail