Tuesday, June 23, 2026
On finding Chatty Belle
Yesterday I was driving through Central Wisconsin and found myself in the town of Neilsville, which you would think might be named after some guy named "Neil," but oddly is named after James O'Neill, an early European settler.
The highlight of the town was Chatty Belle, a talking cow that was part of the Wisconsin pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair in New York. The actual pavilion is there, too, and weirdly wonderful in its own way. Chatty Belle's name was suggested by a first-grader, who won 100 pounds of butter for her efforts. One of the things I wanted to ask Chatty Belle about was what a first-grader would do with that much butter.
Chatty Belle is promoted as the "World's Largest Talking Cow," a claim that seems to imply that there are a number of smaller talking cows out there somewhere. You have to pay a quarter to have her talk, and once you do she seems a little narcissistic-- she pretty much just goes on and on about herself. She also doesn't take questions, which was disappointing (I never found out about the butter).
The nearby pavilion looks kind of like a plaster spaceship, and currently houses an adult contemporary radio station (which you can see from the adjacent gift shop).
So, if you are in Neilsville....
Monday, June 22, 2026
Traffic poems
Great job with the haiku everyone!
IPLawGuy has good advice:
Live close to your job
In a smaller house; get
home before its dark!
In a smaller house; get
home before its dark!
Christine gave us a lot of good stuff:
In Tampa I was
grateful, a reverse commute
Against traffic flow
Malfunction Junction
Is worse twenty years later
A log jam of cars
They have added lanes
Hoping to alleviate
But to no avail
We moved to NC
I-40 was much better
But not anymore
Today I drive my
Country roads and alertly
Watch for the wildlife.
grateful, a reverse commute
Against traffic flow
Malfunction Junction
Is worse twenty years later
A log jam of cars
They have added lanes
Hoping to alleviate
But to no avail
We moved to NC
I-40 was much better
But not anymore
Today I drive my
Country roads and alertly
Watch for the wildlife.
And it is great to hear from Campbell (and I saw this in person last week):
I-76
Jammed on a Sunday morning
Welcome to Philly.
Jammed on a Sunday morning
Welcome to Philly.
Desiree, thanks for the definition (I wouldn't have known):
Work for DEQ*
but pollute on my commute.
Ironic and slow.
*Dept of environmental quality
but pollute on my commute.
Ironic and slow.
*Dept of environmental quality
A little Chicago history from anonymous:
Chicago gridlock
Thank you, Stephen A. Douglas
Eighteen Fifty Four.
Thank you, Stephen A. Douglas
Eighteen Fifty Four.
CraigA knows traffic (and Boston):
My father’s rusted
Chevy truck: the best evah
for Boston traffic!
Chevy truck: the best evah
for Boston traffic!
Sunday, June 21, 2026
Sunday Reflection: A week with IPLawGuy
Readers of the Razor know who IPLawGuy is: he's my best friend, from the time we met 45 years ago. He's been a wonderful friend-- not only to me, but to so many others. Here on the Razor, he is the most frequent commenter, and a haiku regular. And-- here on father's day-- it's important to note that he is a great father not only to his own three kids but to a lot of others through Scouting.
I spent Monday-Friday of this past week in DC with him. He was just diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma, a stage IV brain cancer that is aggressive and ... well, you can look it up.
Like most people, I struggle with what to say and what to do in light of this. But, of course, anything is probably worthwhile as long as I remember this is about Tom and not about me or anyone else.
I believe in both prayer and science. Tom is receiving a lot of prayers, and will get the best medical care available. He lives near good hospitals and doctors, fortunately.
For now, that is what I know-- but I will follow up as things proceed. And for now, let's be gentle with one another.
Saturday, June 20, 2026
What I need (and maybe you do too)
Friday, June 19, 2026
Haiku Friday: Cities with the worst traffic
Traffic isn't usually that bad in Minneapolis-- I have found that rush hour ends by about 5:45, which would be laughable in some cities.
But let's talk about the bad ones. Here, I will go first:
Detroit, you scare me
Why do they drive ninety-five
On I-94?
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, June 18, 2026
PMT: Paying big bucks for bad policy
I read this alarming news in the NY Times:
-- A developer, Invenergy, had plans to build 4 big wind power projects in federal waters under lease agreements;
-- The Trump administration, which is hostile to renewable energy, wanted to make sure they would not be built;
-- The federal government is now paying Invenergy over $750,000,000 to give up those leases;
-- And this is just one of several such deals-- that include the companies investing in fossil fuel plants instead-- that the government has executed, with a total pay-out of about $2.5 billion.
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Bad ideas in home design, pt. 173
According to the style experts at the New York Times, the new trend in kitchen design is hiding everything. The picture above depicts a refrigerator, for example, and the trend includes hidden sinks and stovetops covered with camouflage that makes it look like a table.
So, why?
I just know that in the future I will book a nice-looking VRBO and find that the first day is spent in pursuit of the sink's location. Sigh.
This development follows a long line of horrifying decisions in bathroom design, including:
-- windows into the bathroom
-- no door to the bathroom
-- inscrutable faucets that indicate nothing about how to get water to come out or adjust the temperature
-- Showers with no enclosure so water just goes all over everything.
There are a few areas where functionality should matter most, especially where water is flowing...
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Est. 1981
I'm in DC right now visiting IPLawGuy-- tonight we are going to see the Washington "Nationals" play the Royals. The Nationals are, at least, a little better than the Twins, who are pretty bad this year.
IPLG does something at a ball game you don't see much anymore-- he keeps a scorecard. When I was a kid you saw a lot of people doing that, then they would save the cards (as IPLawGuy does, in fact). There are a lot of basements and attics full of score cards! But the truth is that having a record of the games you see is a pretty awesome thing-- and I'll bet that they reflect what baseball often gives us: something we haven't seen before.
Monday, June 15, 2026
Poems of the farmer's market
It turns out that I am not the only one who loves a good market day! We had some quality work by IPLawGuy (and a common problem):
Danger for me to go!
I come home with too many greens
Too much fruit/live plants.
I come home with too many greens
Too much fruit/live plants.
And of course, CraigA:
Love summer farm stand
Corn and shucking husks at home:
So tasty, so good!
Corn and shucking husks at home:
So tasty, so good!
Des + Vegetables = Greatness:
Okra, tomatoes
arrive at the market at
the same time - gumbo!
arrive at the market at
the same time - gumbo!
Christine, not so much (at least in beet season):
So many options
They say eat what in season
But I don't like beets.
They say eat what in season
But I don't like beets.
And this anonymous entry comes with pictures!:
Strawberries, apples
Lettuce, corn, melons, peaches
So many colors!
🍓 🍏 🌽 🍑
Lettuce, corn, melons, peaches
So many colors!
🍓 🍏 🌽 🍑
Sunday, June 14, 2026
Sunday Reflection: Is this a good place?
In Matthew 9, Jesus teaches us this:
11Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12As you enter the house, greet it. 13If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
It's one of those teachings that goes to a familiar problem: Most of us know that it is like to go to a place where we feel unwelcome. It's pretty good advice, too: Just leave. Don't argue with the people or hope they change, just leave. Of course, there was more going on there, but I do like that part of the lesson.
There are times people do stay in a place where they are unwelcome. In part, it is stasis-- it's hard to change your life. Sometimes it is fear that keeps them there, fear of the unknown.
In Minnesota, we have seen an influx of people who were unwelcome in the place they came from, and I think they find a better place once they arrive. And that is a part of the lesson, too: Do not be that unwelcoming, unloving place.
Saturday, June 13, 2026
A worthwhile compilation...
Friday, June 12, 2026
Haiku Friday: At the Farmer's Market
It's the season for farmer's markets! Which is a season I love. Let's haiku about that experience this week. Here, I will go first:
I cannot resist
Strawberry jam in summer
I will have two, please.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, June 11, 2026
PMT: Who was Spencer Pratt?
So there was this dude who was on four reality TV shows (none of which I have heard of): The Princes of Malibu, The Hills, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, and the British version of Celebrity Big Brother. He went to a prep school in Santa Monica and then to USC before embarking on his bizarre reality show career. [Side note: if these shows are actually about "reality," doesn't it seem odd that someone would be on four of them?]
Somehow, he (and a lot of other people) thought that this career was pretty good preparation to be in charge of a major American city, and he entered the general election for Mayor of Los Angeles. People (including himself) really thought he was going to win-- after all, he had the endorsement of Donald Trump, and was really mad about the Palisades fire and crime.
In the end he lost to incumbent mayor Karen Bass and a former Bass aide who is even further to the left.
Can we just say that maybe being a reality TV star isn't a great run-up to being in charge of anything? We've tried that experiment, and... well, you know.
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Things that give us hope (or at least distraction): New York Times Games
Once upon a time, a newspaper-- one made out of real paper-- brought all kinds of entertainment right to the front door. There was news, sure, but also sports and articles about weddings and people who lived in town. AND comics, and a crossword. Plus, coupons! If you worked it right, the paper could keep you busy for a few hours.
Newspapers lost that role in my homes when the internet came along and both decimated and changed newspapers. They became pretty spare and bleak.
The New York Times seems to have reclaimed a bit of that role, though. People love the games: Wordle, Spelling Bee, Connections, Pips, and of course the classic crossword plus its little sibling, the Mini and the Midi. It is all digital, of course, but I love the idea that it is connected to the place where we find out about politics and sports and weddings and dorky people finding an apartment.
And right now, every once in a while, we all need those distractions....
Tuesday, June 09, 2026
Does anyone ever change their mind?
Lately, I have been thinking about the stickiness of viewpoints in our modern society. I've long said that you can never change the mind of someone who is paid to have a viewpoint, but it seems to go beyond that, especially with politics.
In the recent past, two examples jump to mind. One relates to the last year of the Biden presidency, when people were arguing that he was fit for another term in office despite so much evidence to the contrary. I didn't get it: the ravages of age were pretty clear, even before that disastrous debate. Yet, people couldn't let go of the idea he would be just fine.
And, of course, the Trump voters are just as confounding. People who said they voted for him because he would bring down inflation and stay out of wars somehow are just as loyal as ever.
Part of the problem might by the psychological cost of being wrong. It is hard to admit that you were wrong, of course, but integrity demands that we do it.
And yet, here we are...
Monday, June 08, 2026
Haiku on Fake History
There was some good work last week! I thought the opportunity to create fake history would generate more submissions, but what we had was great.
There was this anonymous entry:
Franklin Roosevelt
Wheelchair’s his secret weapon
Flies and shoots lasers!
Wheelchair’s his secret weapon
Flies and shoots lasers!
And a good one from Jill Scoggins:
A. Lincoln, Vampire
Hunter: Abe slays undead. Prez
as action hero!
Hunter: Abe slays undead. Prez
as action hero!
And another anonymous poem:
Ulysses S. Grant
His horse was the strategist!
Equine battle plans.
His horse was the strategist!
Equine battle plans.
And finally, CraigA!"
Trump: it is all fake.
Lie after lie after lie,
No regard for truth.
Lie after lie after lie,
No regard for truth.
Sunday, June 07, 2026
Sunday Reflection: The unbliblical project of "Identify/Judge/Exclude"
One of the things that is hard about being a Christian right now is that many people judge you without knowing your actual beliefs-- they have this template of Christians (Republican, obsessed with abortion and LGBTQ people, etc.) and assume you fit that mold. What they do not see is the diversity of beliefs within the faith, and the fact that many of us disagree with nearly all aspects of that template.
One part of that broad-brush categorizing is a sense that Christians have a central project to identify, judge, and exclude people they think are committing a sin. Setting aside the wide variety of views on sin, the identify/judge/exclude pattern simply does not match up with what Jesus taught. For example, here is part of Matthew 9:
9As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 10And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
The lesson isn't ambiguous: Christian churches are not meant to be temples of the pure. Nor should we imagine ourselves "pure" even if we accept those who are unpopular or make us uncomfortable. Even if you believe Christianity is about sin (which I don't), Jesus defines sin so broadly (ie, to include "lust in one's heart") that everyone-- everyone-- is in the group labeled "sinners." We all belong in the church, if we choose, with that commonality.
If only we Christians could do what Christ taught....
Saturday, June 06, 2026
A pretty good compilation...
Friday, June 05, 2026
Haiku Friday: Fake History
So, you weren't aware there is photographic evidence of Abe Lincoln and R. McDonald negotiating an end to hostilities at the Alamo?
As we run up to the semiquincentennial (the technical name for the USA's 250th anniversary), I suspect we are going to be seeing some fake history crop up. So let's make up our own and beat them to it! Here, I will go first:
President G. Ford
Secretly, a huge genius
Aliens repelled.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable formula and have some fun!
Thursday, June 04, 2026
PMT: What about that classic advice?
Right now I know a number of people who spend a lot of time thinking and talking about Donald Trump. A lot. Usually they talk to people who agree with them, so it is not like they are changing anyone's mind-- just forcing others to think about Donald Trump more than they would otherwise.
The irony is that they are not people whose lives are very much directly impacted by this administration's policies-- not those who were fired by DOGE, or lost Medicaid coverage, or are under threat of deportation. Of course, admirably, some of them are those who care about those other, more vulnerable, people and that is the source of their constant concern. I get that.
But still, a part of me wishes everyone would just ignore him. Above all else, he is driven by a desire to be seen and known, to matter and be famous. And his detractors give him exactly that.
Perhaps it would be better to simply steer a new and different course-- to set and follow a different agenda. An implicit rejection is more stinging that an explicit one, after all... and what was that advice about bullies?
