Before the coronavirus shut things down, Jennifer was a volunteer with the Trenton Circus Squad, driving kids to and from an after-school program at the Roebling Wire Works building in Trenton and helping to provide adult supervision. The pandemic temporarily closed off that opportunity, and Jennifer also lost her retirement gig at McCarter Theatre when performances were halted indefinitely. So when a friend in town told us about a volunteer opportunity that did not involve congregating with groups of other people, we signed right up. . . .
Author: Paul Knight
Auldbrass Plantation
In the spring of 2015 I watched a segment on CBS Sunday Morning about Auldbrass in Beaufort, SC, the only southern plantation designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Though I was familiar with Wright, I’d never heard of Auldbrass. . . .
The Fall TV Season?
Each year at this time I leaf through whichever issue of Entertainment Weekly has a preview of the fall TV season and look for new shows that Jennifer and I might like, as well as the return dates for the shows we already watch. As with so much else, this year is like no other. There is, for all intents and purposes, no fall TV season. . . .
Truman
Yesterday I finished reading David McCullough’s exceptional biography of Harry S. Truman, titled simply Truman. The book is 1,117 pages — 992 pages not counting the end matter — and I’d been working my way through it for a month and a half. So what to say in a brief blog post about such a long book? First, I loved it. . . .
What Happens If the Presidential Election Gets Thrown to the House?
Those who are concerned about the integrity of the upcoming election foresee the possibility that the Trump campaign will contest the vote count in multiple states. If those challenges can’t be resolved in time to ensure that one candidate or the other obtains the 270 Electoral College votes required to win, the election would be decided by the House of Representatives. . . .
Condiment Man
I’ve always been someone for whom condiments are important. I like mustard and relish on my hot dog, ketchup and mayonnaise on my hamburger. I butter my toast, put duck sauce on my egg roll, and half & half in my coffee. I slice a banana on my cereal, put salsa on my nachos, and sprinkle grated Parmesan on my pasta. . . .
Getting Less Careful Over Time
I read somewhere that human beings have a psychological tendency to increasingly discount risk over time. If you do something dangerous and nothing bad happens, then you’re a little less concerned, and perhaps a little less careful, the next time. Encounter that risk often enough without suffering consequences and eventually you’re, figuratively speaking, running with scissors. . . .
A Survival Strategy for Black Men in the South
I haven’t spent a lot of time in the South, but a few years ago Jennifer and I spent a week visiting Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA. While I was walking through downtown Charleston, I passed a black man coming the other way. He caught my eye, smiled, and said something like “Hello, there.” It was almost as if he thought we knew each other. It was nice to be greeted so warmly, but I didn’t think much of it until the next black man I passed did the same thing. And then another. . . .
The Two Kinds of Supporters of Donald Trump
I’ve come to think that there are, very broadly speaking, two categories of Americans who plan to vote for Donald Trump in November. One group consists of those who I think of as being in the thrall of the man. They like him — in fact, they’re devoted him. They see him as pushing back on those who look down on them. They recognize that he’s a bully, but he’s their bully, the one who comes to their defense when bullies on the other side of town — liberals, atheists, academics — try to put them down. . . .
Is News Consumption Bad For You?
One of the themes that both pundits and ordinary people expound on these days is the way that following the news can be stressful. There’s so much bad news, and there are so many outlets that will dish it up for as many of your waking hours as you’re willing to spend consuming it. But I’ve read a couple of things recently that go a bit further: suggestions that overconsumption of news is detrimental to your mental health and bad for your grip on reality. . . .