Musings from Ballantine 666
A recent message titled Start 2023 on the Right Foot on a pub run mailing list that I'm subscribed to started out with the following observation:
I feel like this year should be a bit more normal, if only because it's the first time the year isn't a play off of 2020 repeating itself. There was 2021: "twenty twenty won" and 2022: "twenty twenty too". Three years in and I think we've achieved a new normal,
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..."If I wanted to listen to people have random conversations, I'd turn invisible and go to a cocktail party."
-Rachel, on why she only really prefers very well-produced and well-structured podcasts, if at all.
The age-old debate, as exemplified by Act I of the This American Life episode “Superpowers,” asks people to decide whether they would want to be able to fly or turn invisible. Jon's opinion was that while flight would possibly be the most thrilling power and would be useful in at least a few types of situations,
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...“Eines der wirksamsten Verführungsmittel des Bösen ist die Aufforderung zum Kampf.” (One of the most effective means of seduction that Evil has is the invitation to struggle.)
- Franz Kafka, Die Aphorismen
So you want to be a supervillain, but you're worried that you might not have what it takes? Anybody can be bad or selfish…that's just a state. But becoming a supervillain? That's a career choice that takes dedication and preparation.
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...“Camille understood that people often wanted to erase the pain of what they’d been through, to reinvent the past and their part in it.”
-Alice Hoffman, The Marriage of Opposites
Around this time of year, we are frantically trying to buy and wrap all the perfect presents, decorate for the benefit of ourselves and guests, prepare for long-distance travel or hosting the perfect holiday party. For all the hardships and weirdness 2020 has brought,
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...For me, romantic comedies set at Christmas are like chocolate pecan pie – treacly and high fructose. I wouldn’t want more than a couple pieces a year, and when someone asks me what my favorite kind of pie is, I never say chocolate pecan, but I usually think about it. You know what you’re going to get, and you know how you’re going to feel afterwards.
The demographic for the Hallmark Channel is women between the ages of 25 and 54.
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...Disclaimer: We have no affiliation with the products that we're talking about, and we take no responsibility for quality, enjoyment or fulfillment of orders placed.
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