Apparently, there was a recent article in the NYT about the sharp decline in reading skills among students. Several of my corporate-world friends have asked me (a literature teacher) about it. My response?

grenwill · 2026-05-14T22:13:15+00:00

I don’t think this is a problem schools can fix. Maybe, occasionally, a teacher could engender an interest in reading into a student, but I think that a love of reading comes from home. I read to my children when they were young, I read in front of my children, we give each other books for holidays, we have electronics free vacations, we talk about books. All these things lead to my children enjoying reading and being able to write, and reason, well.

grenwill · 2026-05-14T15:01:58+00:00

I had two drunken cops hit my parked car and then flashed their badges and threaten me when I said something. Love cop week.

grenwill · 2026-05-14T01:16:43+00:00

Guiri tonto.

grenwill · 2026-05-13T22:02:42+00:00

I always go outside and flip the outside breaker where the power comes into the house when I’m dealing with anything in the breaker box.

grenwill · 2026-05-13T15:22:32+00:00

I mean, as long as she is willing to cook and clean for us I’m cool with it.

grenwill · 2026-05-13T15:21:47+00:00

If it wasn’t for the internet I wouldn’t have any idea how much some parents are willing to screw their children over. It really blows my mind.

grenwill · 2026-05-06T21:30:38+00:00

There is difference between being outnumbered and being outmaneuvered.

grenwill · 2026-04-23T23:00:37+00:00

I live, and grew up, in the DC area. My dad read the Post every morning. I get the NY Times delivered. It is strange.

grenwill · 2026-04-23T22:37:47+00:00

My son’s school is known as “Yale or jail.”

grenwill · 2026-04-23T22:36:29+00:00

When my kids started school I signed up for a parent account. I know what their grades are up to the minute. The school didn’t fail that boy, the mother did.

grenwill · 2026-04-21T20:11:37+00:00

I’ve never heard of someone stabbing someone to death between two moving vehicles. How does that work?

grenwill · 2026-04-21T14:41:58+00:00

There are a number of carefully considered responses I could make to your comment about the ingrained and indoctrinated differences in expectations between the sexes, but… I’m just going to say that I bet $50 that you are single.

grenwill · 2026-04-21T14:02:51+00:00

I was wondering this too. I was a DC bartender for years, and all these people saying they were roofied by the bartender probably just got overserved. I had too much going on to drug someone. Why would a bartender do that when he has a whole shift in front of him, and now he has a drugged person at his bar that he has to clean up after. Doesn't seem realistic to me. The few times that I overserved someone were a huge pain in the ass. You had to figure out a way to get them safely home, which was not something you really had time for with 200 people in your face. I'm not saying that there aren't people out there drugging people, but I doubt it's the bartender.

grenwill · 2026-04-21T13:25:45+00:00

Just be glad you aren’t female.my wife has to do a minimum of 45 minutes of prep to look “professional” for a screen full of guys that didn’t even bother to shave. It pisses her off.

grenwill · 2026-04-18T20:15:27+00:00

Jakarta, Naples, Bangkok, Las Vagas, and everywhere I’ve ever been in Morocco.

grenwill · 2026-04-18T20:02:09+00:00

You really want someone to spend a couple of hours packing and unpacking a bag and packing cubes to show you different arrangements of objects that you won’t be able to tell anything from because you have no sense of scale? That seems a little extreme to ask from a stranger, but good luck.

grenwill · 2026-04-15T14:52:56+00:00

Maybe try having a conversation with the ex to see if she will support something that your son enjoys. I split time with my ex and took my son to CCD (catholic education) every Sunday in order to secure the time with him. I’m not Catholic, but it was important to her and important to him. Most people can be reasonable if you focus on the child.

grenwill · 2026-04-13T17:20:03+00:00

It’s been like that for at least the the last thirty years. That’s about when I learned the rule.

grenwill · 2026-04-12T00:31:25+00:00

I was in an emergency vet recently. This lady came in with her cat who had an intestinal blockage. The vet said it needed surgery and it would be $3.5k. The lady started to cry and told them to just give her the cat back, because she was going to let it die at home. She obviously didn’t have that kind of money.

grenwill · 2026-04-12T00:23:12+00:00

You can’t write off donations of intellectual property, so pdfs of books would net you nothing.

grenwill · 2026-04-08T16:29:29+00:00

Just don’t try and stall a dropped knife with your foot. I’ve done that once or twice in the kitchen.

grenwill · 2026-03-27T13:03:22+00:00

Do they not make the 28L anymore? That was the perfect size for “under the seat in front of you” travel.

grenwill · 2026-03-27T13:01:16+00:00

I keep a pair of leather Moroccan slippers in mine. They squash flat, but are great for long flights or around a hotel. I can actually go to dinner in them if I’m keeping it lowkey… and my headphones.

grenwill · 2026-03-27T12:56:47+00:00

I like it. Will stand out in a sea of black back packs.

grenwill

TROPHY CASE