Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
This Friday I have a 9:20 a.m. doctor’s appointment at 2660 West Covell Boulevard in Davis, approximately 4.7 miles from my south Davis home. My son’s van picks him up at 7:45, setting the schedule that shapes the rest of my morning. Google Maps estimates a one-hour and 47-minute trek. If the van pulls away at exactly 7:45, I’ll arrive with a razor-thin three-minute margin. It’s a gamble against the clock. Should I walk?
I want to, but a bicycle is also calling out to me. It reminds me of another weekday earlier this year when I met my wife at a north Davis medical appointment. I ended up biking past four different Davis public schools and was reminded what a bike-friendly town we live in.
From South Davis, I biked over Pole Line Road, past my favorite Davis brewery, and then through Chestnut Park where I meditate on Sunday mornings. I heard the familiar singers – the American robins, the northern mockingbirds, the house finches and the white-crowned sparrows – their chorus forming the soundtrack of my morning sit.
I encountered many other bicyclists, most of them ages 12–15, on Drexel Drive on the way to Holmes Junior High School, and was delighted to find a welcoming committee at all the nearby intersections. When I am driving (which happens rarely these days), I plot routes that avoid schools because of the stopped traffic. By contrast, on my bicycle, I was directed to breeze through all the stop signs by crossing guards in reflective vests, meaning that I sped through town. Even when I would slow down, these public servants would wave me through with big smiles on their faces, looking at me as if I had never biked in Davis before.
I have been treated like a VIP a few times in my life: When my theatre critic dad and I would show up to a sold-out play and be ushered to some of the best seats in the house just before the lights dimmed; when visiting Disneyland with my disabled son Jukie, and thus being guided past long lines and onto the amusement park rides that he could handle; or biking past Holmes Junior High or North Davis Elementary during the 8 a.m. hour. With my dad at the theatre, I felt important by association. With Jukie at Disneyland, I felt grateful that the world had made a little room for him. And on my bike in Davis, I felt prioritized by design, like a protagonist in a town built for two wheels.
Walking and biking entail different ways of taking in the city, with the walk a meditative slow -burn, and the bike ride a kinetic release. On foot, I can dictate emails, write drafts of poems, or see what Kate has posted on Instagram. My step count, once hovering around 18,000 a day, has dropped to about 15,000 since I developed plantar fasciitis last December and started supplementing my low intensity exercise regimen with time spent at Planet Fitness, trading circuitous greenbelts for stair-climbers and weight machines. Craving steps, I am inclined to walk.
But on a bike, I feel liberated, speedy, and empowered. Each straightaway invites acceleration and exhilaration. My bike eats up the miles, racing past pedestrians and slower bicycles as if they were stuck in place. Imagining wings, I create my own breezes, revisiting the joy that I first discovered at Stoddert Park in Washington D.C. when I first learned to bike in 1976. Speed sharpens the world, narrowing my focus to the line ahead and the rhythm of the pedals. The wind whistles through the ventilation slots of my helmet.
The question remains: Should I walk and stay present or bike and feel free? Which would you choose?
April is the cruelest month if you live in The Waste Land or if you owe a bunch of taxes yet, but in Davis, April seems kind, with warm temperatures cooling into the evening, and a sunset pub quiz waiting for all of us on this Beautiful Wednesday. Expect 31 questions on a variety of topics you should know something about, this week with questions on British heroes who died elsewhere. Today’s pub quiz comes in at a svelte 856 words, my slimmest quiz all year.
In addition to topics raised above and below, expect questions tonight on the following: absurdist comedies, acts, animated films, anagrams, appreciated kings, backup careers, basic biology, blockbusters, calling codes, chains, championship firsts, colorful creatures, corporate timelines, country music notables, disappearing MCs, draft histories, electrical measurements, elite educations, European populations, fan fiction, genre crossover artists, skylines, housing statistics, hungry insects, independence movements, international visitors, lachrymose names, late-night luminaries, literary outputs, media personalities, multi-hyphenate performers, population comparisons, prison dramas, scenes, sports records, streaming features, surnames, tattoos, tourism patterns, video games, viral animals, vocabulary words, U.S. states, geography, current events, and Shakespeare.
For more Pub Quiz fun, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. Certain friends have upgraded their memberships recently, which I really appreciate.
We are now past 100 Patreon members, including people who have upgraded their paid memberships! You know who you are, and I salute you! I also incidentally salute Cathy, Christine, Bobby, Esther, James, Damian, Jim, and Meebles! Thanks also to new subscribers Prescott, Bill and Diane, Tamara, Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, The X-Ennial Falcons, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. Maybe next week it will be you! I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens. Hello to Bill and to Jude’s dad. Thanks in particular to my paid subscribers on Substack. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. Also, I sometimes remember to add an extra hint on Patreon. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
I also want to recognize those who visit my Substack the most often, including Michael (thanks Michael!), Luna, Jean, Ron, Myrna, Maria, to whom I send sustained compassion.
Best,
Dr. Andy
Three questions from last week:
- Science. Starting with a P, what is the term for the open ocean zone that is not near the bottom or the shore?
- Books and Authors. Happy National Poetry Month! Which young poet became nationally known after the 2021 U.S. presidential inauguration?
- Current Events – Names in the News. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power may soon be coming to an end in what country?