In the New Yorker...

[serious crayons]

A little more research. The term was first introduced between pages 50 and 130. (I've ruled out everything on either side of that span.)

[Jeff Wrangler]

I found the article on the Republican Party after a Trump presidency (Nov. 2) worthwhile, and I'm now reading the article on antifascists in the same issue.

Portland, Oregon, had been a center of white-supremacist activity? Portland, Oregon? Who knew? I had no idea. Explains what's been going on in Portland since George Floyd's murder.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Now that we know the outcome of the election, I'm actually kind of enjoying reading articles that were published before the election.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I am now six issues behind and counting.

[serious crayons]

It happened again today. I was just finally getting into a piece about "Lolita" by Ian Frazier, which opens with an intriguing premise. But that's in Dec. 14, which was displaced last week by Dec. 21. So today I opened my mailbox and ... well, you know the rest.

This latest issue has a few things worth opening up to, including a piece on humor by Calvin Trillin. I want to at least get through the damn Lolita thing before I start something else.

[Front-Ranger]

I just finished reading that Lolita article too! It was interesting how he weaves his own story with that of Nabokov as well as Saul Steinberg, who provided the illustration of a seedy motel "Paradise Cabins". I have spent some time in those same areas, and have stood on a street corner in Winslow, Arizona, more than once. Although there was never a girl in a flat bed Ford slowing down to take a look at me  .

The point he makes about foreigners defining America better than it defines itself is a good one. "America construes itself as a game that anybody can play, and Russians know how to play it well, as we learn and relearn."

[serious crayons]

I have spent some time in those same areas, and have stood on a street corner in Winslow, Arizona, more than once. Although there was never a girl in a flat bed Ford slowing down to take a look at me  .

So wait, the Nabokov piece is connected to an Eagles song? I'm not a huge Eagles fan (except "Hotel California"), but an essay that makes that connection sounds even more interesting than I expected. (My other first thought was, wait, did the Eagles get the lyrics from something Nabokov wrote? That seems unlikely, but maybe I underestimated them!) I'll keep reading it.

The point he makes about foreigners defining America better than it defines itself is a good one. "America construes itself as a game that anybody can play, and Russians know how to play it well, as we learn and relearn."

Especially the cyber game, apparently! 

[Front-Ranger]

So wait, the Nabokov piece is connected to an Eagles song? I'm not a huge Eagles fan (except "Hotel California"), but an essay that makes that connection sounds even more interesting than I expected. (My other first thought was, wait, did the Eagles get the lyrics from something Nabokov wrote? That seems unlikely, but maybe I underestimated them!) I'll keep reading it.

No, no connection that I know of. It's just that, in our travels, whenever we pass through Winslow, Arizona, we always start singing that song. I often park at that intersection and take a picture.

The interesting and weird connection in the article is to Russian émigrés in the U.S. and the meddling of the Russians in our activities today.

[serious crayons]

I've never read Lolita. I do know they travel around the country and stay in little motels. Do they follow Route 66? I've done that. It's cool, but it probably gets less cool all the time as buildings age and fashions change. I'm sure it was more at its peak when Lolita and Humbert Humbert traveled it (if, in fact, they do). I look forward to finishing the essay!

[Front-Ranger]

Yes, they do. (I never read the whole book myself. Dave Cullen did recently, and raved about it.)

The last time I was on Route 66 was when I was taking my mother's ashes to be buried in Oklahoma City. No, wait: I travel a small part of it when I go to Payson, AZ, to friend EdelMar's winter house. It passes through Gallup, NM into Arizona, through Holbrook, Winslow, and westward to Flagstaff. Some of the old highway has been turned into almost a superhighway and has completely lost its character.