Life of Johnny

Back in graduate school, I returned from teaching to find an envelope in my office mailbox. In it was a pamphlet from Area 51. No note was appended to this.

This was, I think, the first of many unexplained flotsam left in my mailbox. All of it was placed there by one Johnny G., who has since gone on to become a Web-surfacing librarian from whom no nook of the Internet is safe.

I won't try to explain Johnny G.'s librarian brain. And I certainly am not going to apologize for it. (I blame his parents, and maybe his brothers.) I like his tangents. He is, to say the least, a font of links, nearly all of which are, appropriately enough, unexplained.

Fortunately, general e-mail does indicate who something is from. I don't open unnamed source material. (Who among you sent me that "What's in Santa's Pants?" e-mail this morning? It arrived from santa@northpole.com or something like that. Sorry. I deleted it before the joke made itself known.)

A few recent offerings from the kid that I've adored:

Platzkart Hell
- Russia fascinates me, and this tale does nothing to diminish that interest. The writer was in hell, yes, but in something of an ick art fasion, it's the sort of train experience I think I secretly want to have...though I'd prefer not to have the food poisoning.

Cadavar Synod
- A peculiar account of a dead pope on trial...and in the courtroom. Perhaps this is the origin of America's Fifth Amendment protection?

Verizon Check
- A fabulous scan of a check. I just wish I was smart enough to do something like this. (Lollie: What did you find? This equals out to something like one-fifth of a cent, right?)

Marmaduke Explained
- Worry no more, friends. Joe Mathlete is here to explain the daily Marmaduke comic. I love dogs, but this one is my favorite.
-cK