Letters To An
Overseas Friend.

Max and I were working on one of those activity books. You know: find the differences, mazes, match the shapes, etc… In one of the activities, you have to guess which of the pieces is the missing piece from a broken tea pot. Here is a non-artist’s rendering of the activity:

Before he got started, Max drew a line to “complete” the missing shape, like so:

When I asked him if he NEEDED to draw the line, he looked at me, confused. He gave me one of those “of course I do… why would you ask” expressions.

Richard Sherman is a complicated man.

Just saw a TV ad for a safety razor called Micro Touch One or something like that. It’s nothing more than a standard, classic safety razor that holds a single, replaceable razor blade. You know, one of these things. The ad goes on about how this was the way your daddy and presidents shaved and all that, but…

The stroke of somewhat-clever is when the ad’s spokesperson says something like: “All these fancy pants razor conglomerates add more blades to their razors. Why? To charge you more money! One blade is all a real American needs (this last line is my own addition*, but I thought the ad needed it).” My interpretation: if you buy this razor, you will be sticking it to The Man, cause The Man’s been sticking it to you. It strikes an emotional chord (anti-establishment) while making a financial argument (extra blades are a waste of money) based on dubious shaving physics (extra blades don’t shave better). The spokesperson is the guy from one of those pawn shop reality shows. Know thy audience.

*Credit to Al Bundy.