Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
It was strange to spend Mother’s Day without a mother in the house. My wife Kate flew to Chicago Saturday morning to catch up with friends and family (notably, her own mom on Mother’s Day), and to pick up our daughter Geneva at college, put her stuff in storage, and return her home. Kate swapped 82° sunny Davis for 42° rainy Chicago, having a arrived at O’Hare in Birkenstocks and a hoodie; she was greeted by her beloveds in down coats and rain boots.
In our house, the youngest person in the family seems to set the agenda for our family activities. Thirteen-year-old Truman used to be in charge, arranging for trips to Disneyland and viewing parties of The Andy Griffith Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (which we rent from Bizarro World). But now that Truman convinced us to adopt Margot, our French bulldog puppy, she is the new youngest, so thus is newly in charge. The transfer of power was peaceful.
As a puppy, Margot has boundless energy, demanding multiple walks a day. This dynamic has kept Kate fit (she and Margot end up covering more than four miles a day along South Davis parks and greenbelts), and has kept the rest of us on our toes. Even if I am just taking Margot out for a brief visit to what we call the “Jukie Park” on the other side of our fence, I’ve learned to lock the front door after us, for often our extroverted puppy is unwilling to return right home.
Such was the case last night. After my Sunday evening office hours (five students showed up to Crepeville for help with their essays between 9:30 and 11), I came home to find Margot eager to greet me, as if I had been gone a 12 days instead of 120 minutes. Out we went, and out we stayed, for Margot kept spotting different quarry to chase, including a hoot owl and a number of nocturnal bugs that seemed to sacrifice themselves for Margot’s jowly chomping (and, I imagine, eventually for the owl’s evening meal). We also met two other “night owls,” a man and his dog who both recognized our “Frenchie,” as the man kept calling her. Margot makes friends by walking up to other dogs and then falling on her back. Except when taking up space in our bed, she is not what you would call “dominant.”
Finally I convinced our youngest to return to our cul-de-sac. In the half-moonlight, Margot spotted our neighbor Meg, about a half-block in front of us, walking towards her house while sorting her mail. From behind, and from a distance, Meg’s dark hair looked like Kate’s auburn tresses. Tall and slender in her sleeveless shirt, Meg looked a bit like Kate, strolling away from us and into the darkness.
Margo started to scamper, wanting to close the distance with her mom. Even just the two days was the longest our youngest family member had been away from her Kate since being adopted. I sighed and had to hold the leash firmly. What words could I offer to convince her not to follow, both of us looking forward to an eventual moonlit reunion?
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on the expected topics, including some facts that I learned on National Public Radio this week. Expect also questions about new jobs, unusual parenting techniques, babies, stops, conservationists, silly animations, unwelcome movie sets, local kings, a writer’s final days, opportune bounces, lovers of arches, middle tempests, names in the news, acts of cross-pollination, lies about likenesses, beautiful islands, space stations, categories of bigotry, short stories, government-sponsored news, insiders, peoples named Zachary, more new taxes, gossip, animals and leakers, vodka nerds who love Star Trek, the need to love somebody, things that are pulled, volume, presidential elections, mutants, super bowls, varieties of animals, party problems, really accomplished musicians, and Shakespeare.
Gary Snyder will be one of the featured poets at the Natsoulas Gallery on Thursday. He will join Sandra McPherson in introducing Pos Moua so he can read from his new book. You should join us. Meanwhile, though, I will see you tonight at 7!
Your Quizmaster.
Dr. Andy
P.S. Here are three questions from another quiz, this one from 2012:
- Mottos and Slogans. What Finnish multinational communications and information technology corporation uses as its slogan the phrase “Connecting People”?
- World Employers. The largest employer in the world, with 3.23 million employees, was also the largest single consumer of energy in the United States in 2006. Headquartered in Virginia, name the largest employer in the world.
- Four for Four. Which two of the following Steve Martin films were released in 2003? Bringing Down the House, Cheaper by the Dozen, Father of the Bride II, LA Story.
P.S. “When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions; you should just listen to him, just observe what his way is. We put very little emphasis on right and wrong or good and bad. We just see things as they are with him, and accept them. This is how we communicate with each other. Usually when you listen to some statement, you hear it as a kind of echo of yourself. You are actually listening to your own opinion. If it agrees with your opinion you may accept it, but if it does not, you will reject it or you may not even really hear it.” Shunryū Suzuki