Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
My wife Kate and I took our children Geneva, Jukie, and Truman to Monterey this past weekend. About our experience, Kate wrote this:
“I am finding that one antidote to living our current dystopian reality in the U.S. is to spend as much time as possible with my people, creating joyful memories in nature.
When we put our feet in the Pacific Ocean, we feel grounded. When we breathe in the salty mist of sea air, we feel both calm and invigoration. When we look out at the majestic rocky coastline of Monterey Bay, we experience awe and wonder.
Over the last few days in Monterey Bay, we also connected with people we met along our walks. One favorite interaction included multiple visits on Spanish Bay beach in Pebble Beach by a 20-month-old girl named Evie who was so taken with Margot that she couldn’t resist returning to us for more Frenchie kisses. Her mom and I discovered that we were in similar lines of work and discussed nursing our toddlers, parenting older kids, and wistfully noting the way too fast passage of time. Interactions such as these feel so much more meaningful to me now: they fuel a sense of community we all so desperately need.
We are stronger when we come together.
One of the important voices getting me through the darkness is Heather Cox Richardson’s, the American historian and professor of history at Boston College. I find this particular quotation of hers particularly helpful: “One of the really important things to remember going forward as we fear the rise of authoritarianism in the United States is that authoritarians cannot rise if there are strong communities and people are acting with joy. That is, you need despair and anger in order for an authoritarian to rise. Whatever those things are that you bring to the community, do them, and do them with joy. And don’t stop doing them because you are scared, because that is actually a form of resistance. Showing up and doing things you love says to an authoritarian you have no place to root here, and that’s going to be really important going forward.”
Any Californian can walk along the beach, get lost in the horizon, and smile at the other beachcombers, or even start up a conversation. Even short vacations in nature will remind us of our mutual humanity, of our unspoken solidarity, and of those awe-filled moments of joy that remind us how easily we can inoculate ourselves against the fear and estrangement that fuel despotism everywhere.
I hope you have also been inoculating yourself against despotism, and I’m glad that patriots such as Kate continue to civil leaders accountable for their actions. As Patrick Henry said, “The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.” Patrick Henry
Thanks to Kate for writing most of this week’s newsletter.
I always look forward to Wednesdays and hope that you can join me on the patio or in Sudwerk tonight starting at 7. Arrive early for the best choice in tables! I invite you to join me outside our favorite brewery tonight, perhaps in the shade, for a grand competition featuring 31 questions on a variety of topics you should know something about.
In addition to topics raised above and below, expect questions tonight on the following: American heroes, vegetables, video games, the MCU, royalty, halls of fame, obstacles, corridors, literature in the streets, California bands, USA in 4th place, repeated catchphrases, eyes, Scandinavia, unhappy beginnings, heartbeats, phones, exchanges, trains, Monterey, twins, all stars, lungs, French creative professionals, pitches, spiders, summits, furious cornmeal, San Francisco, good scores, mothers, unhelpful fixations, fast birds, UNESCO, U.S. states, geography, current events, and Shakespeare.
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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. We have over 70 Patreon members now, and almost 30 paid, including the new paid subscribers Esther, James, Damian, Jim, and Meebles! Thanks also to new subscribers 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, whose players or substitutes keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the cost of avocado. Thanks in particular to Ellen and 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. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
This month the great Sacramento poet Frank Dixon Graham made a generous donation to the Jukie Jones Duren Endowment of the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation. Thanks, Frank!
I also want to recognize those who visit my Substack the most often, including Luna, Jean, Ron, Myrna, and Maria, to whom I send sustained compassion.
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. From last week’s quiz, three questions on revolutions:
- Starting with a B, whom did Lenin lead during the Russian Revolution of 1917?
- What Caribbean nation became the first independent Black republic after a successful slave revolt?
- John Lennon penned the White Album song “Revolution” soon after media coverage in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive spurred increased protests in opposition to the Vietnam War, especially among university students. Name the year.