On yet another Bloomsday, I remind myself that I am in the tiny minority who have read James Joyce’s Ulysses twice. And that I also am in the huge majority who don’t have a bar of lemon soap’s understanding of the novel.

 

Joyce’s Ulysses was banned for a long time in the United States and elsewhere for being obscene. Did that mean there were people who were turned on by the modernist novel?

 

The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) holds the WCWS (Women’s College World Series.) Doesn’t seem right.

 

My old corner mailbox was swapped for a newer version. I found this notice on the still-pristine receptacle: “For security of your mail, avoid putting mail in the box after last posted pick-up time.” No matter when I put the envelope in the slot, I am simultaneously inserting it both before and after that last listed time. What, then, should I do? And is this notice implying that there are pick-up times that are not posted?

 

The sign said, “One Stop Truck and Boom Repair.” I looked for, but did not find, any place that was a two-stop truck and boom repair shop.

 

I jokingly told my thrice-married friend that I would teach him all about women. He responded, “I know a lot about women. . . . I just don’t believe it.”

 

Have you ever wondered what Kellyanne Conway does all day?

 

When I said that the beachgoers were formicating, she thought that I said something dirty.

 

“He’s a prince.” Doesn’t sound derogatory. But compare: “She’s a princess.”

 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said: “If I blunder, everyone can notice it; not so, if I lie.” Hasn’t Donald Trump definitively disproved that?

 

In a newspaper column, the writer speculated about why the recent anti-abortion laws passed in many states have wiped out the longstanding exceptions for rape and incest. I had assumed it was because the male legislators passing the laws wanted to father more children.

 

Double dactyl for the day (courtesy of the spouse):

Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat,

Executive privilege.

A meaningful subject for all to explore.

The subject can be somewhat

Incomprehensible.

With Trump, it’s a practice to strongly abhor.