stephenschrum

Let’s Art!

I saw this as the headline and beginning of a New York Times article and wanted to spread the word of this approach my endorsement.

Forget the Ruse…Back to the Script

When I started to get the wrong number text scams, they at least tried to stay on script for awhile. Now, the present the introduction and—violating the first rule of improv—say, “Yes, but” to themselves. There’s no continuity to the idea that this is a wrong number…unless they are psychic and read my mind toContinue reading “Forget the Ruse…Back to the Script”

Stephen/Not Stephen

Sometimes the wrong number texters really let me play. Well, they don’t let me; they prompt me. And when I prompt them to insult me in obscure ways, even better. (Read to the end for your new favorite insulting epithet.)

Another Overused Word

In the past I’ve railed against “unprecedented” and “disrupt.” Let’s now take aim at “broken.” This came up because the other day a health care professional used the phrase, “It’s broken.” This was not in reference to a limb but rather, as I recall, some aspect of the healthcare system. And at that moment, hearingContinue reading “Another Overused Word”

Jokes About Jesus

Okay, just one. One of my favorite jokes comes from the wilds of West Virginia. One day, Jesus walks into a bar, nods to the bartender, and selects a barstool at the far end of the establishment. One of the patrons, sitting at the bar with his arm in a cast from a recent break,Continue reading “Jokes About Jesus”

List My Work History

Buckle up and get your reading glasses–this is a long one. Recently someone insinuated that, since I spent my life in academia, I didn’t know anything about working real jobs. (It was phrased in terms of never wearing steel-toed shoes.) So I thought I’d compile a list of all my work experiences in and outContinue reading “List My Work History”

WhatsUpp??

For awhile now, I’ve been documenting the “wrong number” scam. They text me, suggesting I’m someone they know and, when I say I’m not that person, they follow their script, apologizing and then asking questions to “know me better.“ The middle game seems to be to get connected on WhatsApp or Telegram, but lately they’veContinue reading “WhatsUpp??”

What Confusion?

Frequent readers of this blog know of my verbal jousting with the wrong number scammers: they introduce themselves, apologize for getting me by accident, and then pursue a closer friendship on WhatsApp. I enjoy messing with them through improv and sometimes they can’t handle it. Oh, no, looks like I got the wrong number forContinue reading “What Confusion?”

Mental Jukebox

You know how you sometimes get a song stuck in your head (“earworm”) for a day or so? Eventually they go away or get replaced by another. Except… For the last couple of months I’ve had three songs on shuffle in my head. That in itself is not out of the ordinary, but these particularContinue reading “Mental Jukebox”

Bias Against Education?

Someone recently said to me, “People in ivory towers must never have heard of hard-toed shoes.” This was clearly a dig from a “working man” (really, a lifelong office jockey) who clearly has some disdain for Academia. This is not the first time I’ve experienced this. I started college two years after my high schoolContinue reading “Bias Against Education?”