PRESIDENTS, KENT MCCORD AND COMEBACKS

Learn about a president each day for a month. Presidents 1-31 were George Washington to Herbert Hoover. On the 1st look up Washington in a good encyclopedia. On the second of the month look up John Adams. keep going. What about presidents 32-44? That would be Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Barack Obama. The 22nd and the 24th would be Grover Cleveland who was president twice. On the 24th look up a president who came after Herbert Hoover. You might also want to skip number nine, William Henry Harrison, because he was only president for one month and he was sick for all of that time. He was, however, an interesting historical character, the victor at the battle of Tippecanoe. After you have done this for a month, on the second month look up the presidents who came after Hoover. That would be 13 names. After you have looked up all the presidents up to President Obama and whoever comes after him, go back and look up some presidents that you think had interesting terms.

For next month look up the Roman emperors or the kings and queens of England. You might start on the popes, or famous scientists or explorers. There are 365 days in a year. That’s 365 interesting people to learn about. When you study, be a kid again. We lost the joy of learning back when we were in school. Let’s get it back.

In “Burning Man” by Alan Russell, actor Kent McCord, tells the following joke: “So this man has to work late, and when he’s driving home he gets pulled over for speeding. Now the cop notices the driver has these tired looking eyes, so he says to him, ‘Sir, I can’t help but notice your eyes are bloodshot. Have you been drinking?’ The driver isn’t happy with the insinuation, so he says to the cop., ‘Officer, I can’t help but notice your eyes are glazed. Have you been eating doughnuts?’ “ Page 8.

Come backs: My dog doesn’t need a muzzle; my tongue does. Alan Russell. “Burning Man.”