Humor
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A Super Dog Day Afternoon
Being the deep, substantial person that I am, I was kind of hoping that following my knee replacement surgery, my at-home physical therapist would resemble someone like Jason Momoa. Unfortunately, it seemed all the buff therapists had already been assigned, because I ended up with one who looked more like Ant-Man than Aquaman.
Still, I didn't...Read more

Jerry Zezima: No snooze is bad news
To sleep — perchance to snore. Ay, there’s the rib, which my wife, Sue, pokes every time I snore while she’s trying to sleep.
My unconscious imitation of a buzzsaw, which I allegedly do often enough that Sue has to go into another room to get a good night’s slumber, is the reason I have been signed up to participate in a sleep study, ...Read more
Attn: Elon Musk, Here's What I Did This Week
Things I did this week:
Made list titled "Things I did this week."
Crossed off "make list." Very strong start, productive, busy, etc.
Decided to document all activity for Elon Musk to personally review. I do not work for the federal government. Still, it seems helpful to supply data in advance, trying to delay the inevitable draft of ...Read more
A Half-Baked Column
"I think it's time we retired this oven," I said to my husband as I displayed a sheet of blackened sweet potato fries. "Even the dog won't eat these."
"Sure he will," he said, tossing some fries on the floor. The dog immediately sucked them down.
"Not my point," I said.
We had known our oven was on its last burners for quite some time. But ...Read more

Jerry Zezima: Puppy love
When you’re a grandparent, you want only the best for the newest addition to the family. That’s why my wife, Sue, and I went shopping in anticipation of baby’s first visit and came home with everything the little one needs, including a bowl for food, one for water, a stick for teething, a bag of treats for snacks, toys for playing, a leash...Read more
All Lined Up and Nowhere to Go
It was one of those days where everything was taking a ridiculously long time. There was a line at the dry cleaners. A line at the supermarket. A line at the gas station. I was starting to think that everyone in the world had the same to-do list that I did; they were just one to-do ahead of me the whole day.
I finally made it to the last ...Read more

Jerry Zezima: Don't sweat the style stuff
Row, row, row my seat swiftly down the track.
Warily, warily, warily, warily, my body’s out of whack.
That’s the tune I sang to myself — because I didn’t want to scare everyone else at the gym — as I rocked and rolled on a rowing machine under the expert guidance of my very own personal trainer.
I decided to go back to the gym ...Read more
In Trump's America, Humor Has One Foot in the Grave
"Maybe you just aren't fun anymore," a reader wrote to me recently. With all due respect to this reader, are you fun? No, please, are you having it? What is so fun out there, hmm? Is someone having a party full of Nerds Gummy Clusters and total disassociation?
Apparently, the tone around this column space has trended too serious for some ...Read more
The Best Laid Flight Plans
When it comes to air travel, I'm certainly no stranger to flight delays. On a trip last summer, our return flight was delayed 36 hours. Strangely enough, this was also approximately the same amount of time I had been in labor with my son. The difference was at the end of my labor, I got a beautiful child, whereas at the end of the flight delay...Read more

Jerry Zezima: Taken aback
No matter what I do, whether it’s good, bad or just plain stupid, my wife, Sue, has my back. And I have hers.
But lately, neither one of us has wanted to make the exchange. That’s because we both threw our backs out.
I injured mine while cleaning the bathroom, which is what I get for trying to be helpful around the house.
The irony was ...Read more
In 'Nickel Boys,' Shame Mirrors American Apathy
First, the Florida of it all registers. Oranges, gators, crystal blue skies full of possibility.
Then, something else dawns in the opening breaths of "Nickel Boys." The film is shot in a first-person lens. We, the viewer, embody Elwood Curtis, an ambitious Black teen growing up in 1960s Tallahassee. He's the one looking up at oranges, and by ...Read more
The De-Stinkification of the Dog
I wouldn't say I'm nose blind to the smell of my dog, but typically, I don't realize he needs a bath until the board of health shows up and condemns the dog, his bed and our house.
My husband will usually smell him before I do. Maybe it's because he's out of the house all day, and when he walks in the door, the smell hits him like a ...Read more

Jerry Zezima: The eyes have it
I have always believed that if you have an appointment with an eye doctor, you should show up late. When the doctor asks why you weren’t on time, you can say, “I couldn’t find you.”
This will let him or her see — with the aid of prescription glasses, because eye doctors invariably wear them — that you are in the right place and will...Read more
We're Living in an Episode of 'Jerry Springer'
I recently watched two documentary series that unpacked slices of zeitgeist from the 1990s and 2000s. One was "Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story," the other, "Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action."
Both series illuminated an era rife with cartoonish sexcapades and violent, Roman arena-style fighting. I lived through it, of course, and at ...Read more
Shopping With the Supermarket King
There are a lot of things my husband does well. Shopping, however, is not his forte. This I learned after I sent him to the drugstore to get me some Anbesol for my canker sore, and he came home with Anusol, a product for hemorrhoids.
"It was an honest mistake," he admitted.
"Yes, I can see how you might have been confused," I said. "One ...Read more

Jerry Zezima: Check this out
If you want something done, goes an old saying, do it yourself. Unless you’re me, in which case you not only have a lot to worry about but couldn’t finish a do-it-yourself project or write a self-help book without asking someone else (not me) for help.
This is especially true when it comes to self-checkouts.
“Are you ready to check out?�...Read more
Why do we fall for fall?
Yes, it’s that glorious season that so many pumpkin-spice addicts claim to be their favorite. I must admit that, I, too, succumb each year to the autumnal charms of fall, except for my seemingly never-ending battle with leaves, or, as I like to call them – tree dandruff.
So what is it that ironically draws us to a season that marks the ...Read more