Handling Snakes and Not Bitten

“Trevor Smith was the scion of a family that had plenty of bucks but which had somehow managed to keep that fact from rotting out the floorboards of its collective soul. They had money—quite a bit of it, actually—but for them, money was just bullets . . . Some people cast their bread on the waters, and all they get is soggy bread, or happy ducks. Others were like the Smith dynasty, and nobody quite knew how it worked.”

Flags Out Front, p. 75

We Have Revised Our Estimates Somewhat Downwards

Introduction: The coronavirus scare has had a narrative arc. There were the initial troubling reports out of China. Then there was time when the alarm was sounded on the basis of the kind of sensational modeling that has a genius for the limelight. Battle was joined, as this was clearly the moral equivalent of war. …

Leaving Some Perfect Little Teeth Marks

“She was doing pretty well until about three minutes into his presentation. He gestured expansively, with the kind of gesture that he had found so effective in the impressing of freshman girls, and Maria almost lost it. His right hand moved languidly toward the ceiling, and Dr. Rollins was unable to keep himself from looking at it as it went. The board members, being all men, didn’t notice, but Maria did, and started biting her forefinger.”

Flags Out Front, p. 66

In Which I Consider the Propriety of Tying a Bandanna Around My Head and Coming Off the Top Ropes

Introduction: I speak, of course, in metaphors. Yesterday the prime minister of India put a billion people, more or less, into lock down. He did this because there was a "spike" in cases -- ...

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