I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... week ahead … and a Happy New Year.
ART NOTES — an exhibition entitled Pursuit of Happiness: the GI Bill in Taos — noting how the GI Bill enabled the southwest to become a post-WW-II artist residence of note — is at the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, New Mexico to May 31st, 2026.
Charles Berninghaus (1905-1988)
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is this essay by the intrepid Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland, who agrees that 2025 was a brutal year in Britain (and elsewhere) … yet denies that acts of courage exist only in the past. He concludes, “It lives on now, all around us. It’s there if we look for it – lighting up the dark”.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named is named Bella the Dog(?) - why yes: the director of a Minnesota cat sanctuary brought her dog to work ... and found that “Bella cries to come into the sanctuary”. She has befriended most of the cats, and if someone wants to adopt a cat: they know if it is comfortable going to a home with a dog.
Bella the Dog and friends
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay by the nonpareil Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher — the most understandable wine columnists I’ve ever read — with their self-explanatory Wine Trends to Watch in 2026 (covering A to Z).
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Cordova the Cat - a California kitteh who spent nearly two years in a shelter due to her dental under-bite. Yet mercifully, she gained her forever home for the Yuletide, thanks to a shelter video posting.
Cordova the Cat
YOUR WEEKEND READ #3 is this Substack essay by the always perceptive Ron Filipkowski, with the title 25 Worst Villains of the Trump Admin (appointees only), which makes some interesting distinctions.
BRAIN TEASER — the BBC has its four-part Quiz of the Year 2025 — Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four — 52 questions in all.
And the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
MY FAVORITE BOOK of 2025 —
LAST NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at not New Year’s resolutions (a waste of time) … but instead: a to-do list, plus measurable and achievable goals for 2006.
SEPARATED at BIRTH —
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… this is the final song that I listen to each year. Alas, it’s a bit melancholy: as the bluesman John Mayall died in July, 2024 at age 90 … just three months before his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (as an Early Influence, in helping spread the blues in the UK).
