A New Venture

Probably a bad idea!

What is this, even?

My “friend” Eric Moskowitz invited me to join the somewhat-exclusive, not-so-secret LearnedLeague, a group of some 20,000ish trivia freaks.

My “friend” Eric did this because he knows that I — as a 1997 first-team All-Stater in Missouri’s Quiz Bowl tournament, a former pub-trivia frequenter, and one-time Jeopardy! loser — would be unable, with my poor time-management skills, to resist this new, intriguing time-suck.

Two Trends in One

And so, I figured I’d use this occasion to arrive belatedly at two trends in one — the secret trivia game and Substack.

I’m assured by Eric (the aforementioned “friend”) that the LearnedLeague seasons are highly addictive. So I’ll probably have something to say about that experience. I will also talk about what I’m reading (too many books at once), teaching, and writing.

I’m interested, basically, in trying out a sustained daily writing practice that involves more than my making dumb jokes about headlines on Twitter. It would be great if you joined me, but also fine if you don’t!

Speaking of jokes about headlines…

My Therapist Told Me a Ted Cruz Story

My therapist told me a story about his good friend, a woman who went to Princeton at the same time as Ted Cruz.

Cruz always wanted to be in some poker game that this friend’s boyfriend ran, and they never let him because everybody always hates Ted Cruz, even Princetonians.

One day, they had a spot to fill, and they finally, reluctantly, let Ted play. Ted promptly lost all his money, then reported the game to the RA.

Sounds about right.

We’ll see how this goes. Tell your enemies!