The woman was from Sweden. She looked it, although her hair might have been slightly darker than the Scandinavian stereotype. She gave her first name. I did not understand it, and she said, “It’s Indian.” Her father was from India and met her mother in Sweden. I wonder if that makes her a Swindian.

The headline: Why There Has Been No Cure for Alzheimer’s. I imagined the article merely read: “I can’t remember.”

“The main advantage of working at home is that you get to find out what cats really do all day.” Lynne Truss.

Provoking much mockery, the Missouri State House of Representatives adopted a rule that women must wear a jacket or cardigan on the House floor. Representatives will be spared the sight of bare shoulders, but cashmere pullovers are banned. Men, too, have a dress code. They must wear a jacket, shirt, and tie. I have owned and worn many jackets, shirts, and ties in my life. There can be utility in wearing a jacket. (I wonder if my yellow rain slicker would pass muster.) A tie, however, has no usefulness, but one must still be worn. (Are manufacturers of ties particularly strong in Missouri?) But what should I make of the fact that the jacketless Jim Jordan who sits in Congress could not make it in the Missouri house?

“No great idea was born in a conference, but a lot of foolish ideas have died there.” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

It is now midwinter. Is there any other descriptive word that precedes this season other than “bleak”?

The ad for the chain sandwich shop said they used “real red-wine vinegar.” I had not known that there was faux red-wine vinegar.

My supposedly ad-free public radio has frequent promos for shows with the announcer concluding that the movie or play is “awards eligible.” Isn’t everything eligible for some sort of award?

The bartender introduced me to a new server. It was noisy, and the server indicated that he had not caught my name. I repeated it and said that it was the same as his boss’s. I then leaned in conspiratorially and said, “Except that I am nicer.” He smiled and responded, “That’s a low bar.”

It seemed unusual that she was fourth-generation Anglican priest. It seemed even more unusual because her family was from South Korea. She told me that about 40% of Koreans are Christian, and of half of them are Catholic. She also said that South Korean Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists outnumber Anglicans, so her family did not come from a dominant religious community. She, however, was raised in Canada and went to theological school in Massachusetts, where she met her husband, who is also an Episcopal priest and heads a church on Long Island. She said that her husband was from Virginia and did not have her Korean heritage. She paused and said, “He is white.” She paused some more and said, “Oh, very white.”

Is there a difference between the Holy Bible and the Bible?