Isaac Laquedem

Five years blogging

Five years this month.  That's a lot of curmudgeonliness to work through.

Silence is golden, saith the TTLB ecosystem

I went two weeks without posting anything, and my status in the TTLB ecosystem rose three levels.  At that rate, if I write nothing else between now and Labor Day, I should become at least a Playful Primate.

Shelley tags me with a book meme, and I bite (am bitten?)

I have a soft spot for books. Although I'm generally untaggable and don't tag at all, Shelley (of The Menagerie) has tagged me with a book-based meme, which I'm pleased to answer. The meme is to pick the closest book at hand of sufficient length, turn to page 123, then to the fifth sentence on that page, and quote the next three sentences. (I'm taking that to mean the 6th, 7th, and 8th sentences.)

The books at my workplace aren't sufficient for the purpose (why quote three sentences of Oregon statutes?). The book closest at hand at home yields the following:

The strategy generally is: (1) establish high card winners, (2) obtain ruffs, (3) shorten declarer's trumps to fewer than defenders, (4) prevent ruffing of your high cards. When you are defending, and your partner has bid a suit, it is usually a good idea to lead that suit. You want to be able to establish and cash those high cards quickly before declarer has a chance to discard his losers in that suit.

The book is The Fun Way To Serious Bridge by Harry Lampert, a lively illustrated work on how to play better bridge. Had I taken my computer upstairs, the book would have been either The Politics, by Aristotle, or Sir John Magill's Last Journey, by Freeman Wills Crofts. Aristotle provides a philosophical passage that begins, "Furthermore, there is no point in equalizing property, if we do nothing to regulate the number of citizens," and Crofts counters with the more prosaic, "'Looks like the police station after all,' French declared."

Better to close one's mouth and be thought a fool . . .

I went three weeks without posting, and the Ecosystem raised me six notches, from a Multicellular Microorganism to a Crawly Amphibian.  Apparently the Ecosystem rewards brevity, but I can't get much pithier than silence.

St. Philip Neri leads an Ask.com searcher to Isaac

Most of the searches that send people to this small corner of the blogosphere have to do with personalities of Portland and Oregon.  A few are for things that I would never think could lead people here, including one today for "St. Philip Neri on his deathbed."  Although I've referred once to the parish of St. Philip Neri, served by a landmark church on SE Division Street, I can't think of any useful information this blog would have on the topic in question.  In this instance the saint, through the agency of Ask.com, has led one of his followers astray.

Welcome back, Bohemian Mama

After seven months away from the keyboard, spent teaching social studies to high schoolers, Bohemian Mama returns to the blogosphere!  Here's her "I'm back" post.

Two years, and counting

I let the two-year anniversary of this blog pass on March 7 without special notice.  A few days later visitor no. 50,000 happened by, brought here by a search engine.  It's been a fun two years.  My "Good Old Days" posts (my favorites) are slowing down, alas; though I have to admit that recent local events are giving me a lot of material that will qualify for "Good Old Days" treatment in about 2026, in the unlikely event that I'm still alive and blogging then.

Why the City of Portland should admit all its errors by tomorrow

Do you think that the reason the City's releasing more bad news about the South Waterfront cost overruns ($50 million and counting, including $15 million for the tram overrun) is that Professor Bogdanski vowed to write nothing but nice things this week?

Visitor no. 40,000

Visitor no. 40,000 arrived this morning, someone from Ireland who had used Google to search for "Isaac in Irish."  Céad Míle Fáilte!

Lunch with Jack Bog

Yesterday Professor Bogdanski and I had lunch together and talked about a wide range of current events.  It's been many years since we last met and I enjoyed the chance to catch up with him and swap ideas.  I have some further thoughts on school funding, which I'll write about over the next few weeks.  I think the South Waterfront will get the attention it deserves, blogically speaking, without me.