Friday Donuts

Friends, I had considered writing today’s note as a palindrome, to celebrate the culmination of ten consecutive palindrome dates (1-20-21 through 1-29-21). Fortunately, in a temporary lapse of madness, I was dissuaded by the enormity of the task. It’s worth noting, I also did nothing to mark the 21 st minute of the 21 st hour of the 21 st day of the 21 st century. I briefly considered having 21 shots (after all, 21 is the legal drinking age) but, again, a brief gap of folly saved me from alcohol poisoning. Instead, I focused on completing my 990 piece puzzle. Why not 1,000, you ask? I can’t say for sure, but at 55x18, I suppose they think it acceptable to renegue on 1% of the promised pieces. Puzzling! It would be like a Dunkin’ including a nibbled donut in the dozen I purchased.   The trick to completing a puzzle is breaking it down into activities, not focusing on the enormity of the task, then sticking with it. I start with the edges, of course. Then, there is usually a larg

  Friends, Who writes the “more info” blurb? You know the one. That cryptic sentence or two designed to give you a feel for the plot so you can decide whether to watch a show (when the title alone is not enough). Do they work for the movie studio? Are they employed by satellite, cable and streaming services? More importantly, how did they get the job? And, what might they be smoking whilst writing them? I’ve been thinking it might be fun. Watch a movie, get inebriated, write a blurb. Here are a few I’ve thrown together (I may or may not have been sober whilst writing these) Outcast engages in human trafficking in exchange for the return of his property – Shrek Newly homeless girl joins a gang seeking special favors from the mayor – The wizard of Oz Wilderness excursion leads to uncle’s trinket being lost at the top of a mountain –Lord of the Rings Underage orphan gets dragged into forbidden game against the wishes of his boarding school pr

Friends, Mainstream theoretical physicists are seriously contemplating the possibility that the three dimensional universe as we know it, is encoded on information contained within a two-dimensional plane. According to Dr. Matthew Headrick , an expert in the field, this mind-numbing idea “helps us to solve some of the thorniest puzzles that arise when you try to combine quantum mechanics and general relativity”. It occurs to me this Holographic Principle , as it’s known, has some unexpected ramifications. If the universe is an encoded hologram, was a programming language used to code it? If so, the Judeo-Christian account of creation in Genesis 1 might point to the Coder. The expression “God said” is used eight times to describe the act of creation. God uses language (presumably a programming language) to make everything. Spooky! At the risk of taking this too far, the first three verses of the gospel according to John say that through “the Word” all things were made (Jesus as th

Friends, Danny Trejo is arguably the ultimate typecast actor. While most thespians avoid being pegged, Danny has gone in the opposite direction. His 323 roles in movies, TV shows, videogames and music videos exude “tough guy”. You could say he’s made a career of playing the Chicano villain. Come to think of it, I suppose we all have a “type”, whether we care to admit it or not. Apparently, mine is “donut dude who drinks and knows things” –at least that’s what my family’s Christmas presents suggest. To wit: Beer-themed socks –wife (not pictured) GOT chalice with inscription “I drink and know things” –son Francisco Ho-ho-Homer Simpson donut ugly Christmas sweater –daughter Verónica Donut flask –son Pablo Thoughtful note about my wisdom as a father (and a cookie) –son Rafael (not pictured) I could try to fight it. Come to think of it, I have. Nearly a decade ago, my boss at the time (Shaun Andrews) suggested my role as founder and head of the Lev

  Friends, Happy new year (and, technically, still Friday). As many of you know, my household has a peculiar way of ringing-in the new year. We build effigies representing the old year and burn them at midnight. This year, although we made the tough call of canceling the accompanying annual party, I felt it was important to go ahead with the burning. The theme, of course, was CoVid. My kids and I developed a dozen mutations of the virus and staged them in our backyard. Then, at a quarter ‘till midnight, we proceeded to read the old year’s last will and testament (or, as might be expected for a year like this, an un-will and un-testament). Shortly thereafter they were summarily burned. We then proceeded to stay up way past my bedtime (which in part helps explain the unusual tardiness of my weekly note). In any event a couple of donuts and a day of rest have got me back to my old self. By the way, I’ve posted a public video of the Facebook live stream event on Facebook. Key markers on