Articles by Jerome Shea
Jerome Shea is an emeritus professor of English at the University of New Mexico, where he still teaches his classical tropes course every fall and his prose style course every spring. He has been the Weekend Wonk since January of 2007. His email is shea@macinstruct.com.
Lonely Street and Other Observations
September 29, 2008
For an Obamanista, my street–my neighborhood for that matter–is enemy territory. McCain signs all over the place. Some front lawns fairly bristle with Republican attitude: “McCain/Palin,” “Darren White for Congress,” “Steve Pearce for Senate,” “Another Family for McCain!” It’s their right, of course, but my “Obama/Biden” sign stands there like the last legionnaire, daunted but not, I hope, doomed. No one has ripped it up or defaced it. I’ll give my neighbors that.
Yellow
September 15, 2008
What started me on this color business (see “Colors”) was the generally bad reputation that yellow struggles under. Never mind that yellow can be associated with gold and sunshine and buttercups and ribbons ‘round the old oak tree. Never mind that it has become a very popular color for sporty cars lately—my late, lamented Metro convertible was a brilliant yellow. On balance, yellow has suffered a bad rep, or rap, through the centuries.
Colors
September 3, 2008
so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens (Wm. Carlos Williams) I am gazing out of my office window and the world I see is a world of color and it is lovely for that. Zimmerman Library is a restful adobe tan*. The sycamores vary in their foliage, many drab and jaundiced (they never seemed to do well around Smith Plaza), but the big, dark ponderosa pines set everything off and yet pull it together, and the patch of lawn, even in this desert, is Erin-green.
The Great Irony Kerfuffle
August 19, 2008
Well, Shea is late again. I hated to interrupt the coinage sequels, and Macinstruct has been in the summer doldrums, Matt and I indulging ourselves in travel and just kicking back, relishing the welcome rain and dodging the heat. But now, like the Terminator, we’re baaack! The presidential campaign slogs on even though neither candidate has been officially nominated yet. One yearns to comment on the latest flip-flop flaps, or the gaffes of supporters, like that doozy by Phil Gramm.
Pennies and Quarters and Dollars, Oh My!
August 5, 2008
Long live the penny! And live long it probably will, despite Jim Kolbe’s efforts (see “A Nickel for Your Thoughts” and “A Penny Saved or a Penny Spurned?”). The U.S. Mint says that there are no plans to discontinue it. As to what it costs to make a penny—I first said 1.4 cents and then 1.7 cents—the actual cost seems only slightly less volatile than the commodities market (which may be no surprise).
A Penny Saved or a Penny Spurned?
July 22, 2008
Last week I outlined Question 1 on the AP exam: should we get rid of the penny?* Representative Jim Kolbe of Arizona, sponsor of the Legal Tender Modernization Act, thinks we should. He would have the nickel do the penny’s job by simply rounding sums up or down in cash transactions. It should also be noted that the LTMA would not abolish the penny. It would still be legal tender, would still be minted.
A Nickel for Your Thoughts
June 25, 2008
Empty your pocket or purse. How much change do you have? I have only 41 cents at the moment: three dimes, a nickel, and six pennies. (I had a bunch of quarters, but I washed the Little Red Beast on the way in this morning.) I do have a point, which I’ll get to in a moment. The Advanced Placement Essay Reading, which I wrote about last year (“Summer Camp” and two subsequent wonks), came round again.
Dark and Stormy Night
June 15, 2008
These things always start innocently enough. I was browsing in a new reference book and came across the entry for the prolific Victorian writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873). The only thing noted besides his name and dates was the fact that Bulwer-Lytton is notorious for having written the worst opening line in English letters: “It was a dark and stormy night.” That’s when it hit me (yet again): I have known for years that this line is supposed to be the benchmark for atrocious writing, and yet I never really understood why.
Chagrin and Politics
June 8, 2008
One could argue that chagrin and politics go together like salt and pepper. More on that later, perhaps. But this chagrin—mine—arises from the fact that a week after I wrote the “Rainy Day” wonk, there came another wonderful rainy day: Sandias socked in, sky a dripping dome, and so forth. This after I had sworn to you that Albuquerque was only slightly more moist than the Atacama Desert in Chile. What can I say?
Rainy Day
June 1, 2008
Sometimes a wonk is right there in front of you, hiding in plain sight. I realized this as I was casting about for a proper wonk subject yesterday, driving up Second Street with my windshield wipers on “intermittent.” It was raining! That is why I was feeling so deeply satisfied! It was a genuine rainy day in Albuquerque! Rain in Albuquerque—and I mean a whole rainy day, not the brief evening showers that we get in July, our “monsoon season”—is a big, big, deal.