In my last post, I discussed Tavia Nyong’o’s idea that “the shiny, hard, and brittle surfaces of racist ceramic figurines reflect back upon the psychology of scapegoating black children”–a view of “blackness as a hardened form of subjectivity.” Nyong’o calls it, “this racial simile, a black skin is as hard as stone; not skin atContinue reading “The Shaming of a Hard Old Man Like Me”
Category Archives: Jokes
More on the Tyranny of Pairs
I’ve been thinking further about the tyranny of pairs in the world of shaker sets, which I discussed in my last post. It has occurred to me now that it’s the implied connection of the two disparate things in a pair that is, often, the source of the comedy or even the cuteness. A dogContinue reading “More on the Tyranny of Pairs”
The Tyranny of Pairs
Out on the street, you can find, as well as street signs, the occasional fire hydrant:And along with a fire hydrant, you will usually find . . . ? A fireman, perhaps? No. A group of children getting a free drink on a hot summer day? No. What a fire hydrant goes with, of course,Continue reading “The Tyranny of Pairs”
Taking It to the Streets
We continue the go-with chain with what appears to be another pugnacious guy, all ready to return the blow being struck by the enraged data-entry fellow of the last post: But why, you might ask, if he has his dukes up and is all ready to fight, is he sitting on the ground? The answerContinue reading “Taking It to the Streets”
Miniaturized Workplace Rage
This is a bit of a cheat, maybe. The typewriter on a desk, I now declare, goes with . . . a computer terminal: Well, it has a keyboard, right? And it’s sort of like a desk. You sit at it while working, right? Or at least, you used to do so, in an earlierContinue reading “Miniaturized Workplace Rage”
Once More for Old Times Sake
The chain of go-withs continues. First an egg with a goose, then a goose with an old lady, and now, an old lady with . . what? One old lady–no, let us say one mature lady–goes, first of all, with another mature lady:And then, one mature lady clearly goes with a mature gentleman. Well, ifContinue reading “Once More for Old Times Sake”
Perry Nodelman 