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?”
Author Archives: stephenschrum
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?”
A Positive Prescription
I heard an interview with the outgoing Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy during which he spoke about his parting prescription for Americans. When faced with a choice between “the status quo, marked by pain, disconnection, and division” and “a different path—one of joy, health, and fulfillment, where we turn toward each other instead of awayContinue reading “A Positive Prescription”
A Story Idea (Fiction?)
Three years after the implementation of Project 2025, the states of America were united no longer. The country lay in shambles. The National government had been dismantled. Infrastructure crumbled, leading bridges and buildings to fall in ruin. After the dissolving government stopped all Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security payments, people could no longer afford healthcare, food,Continue reading “A Story Idea (Fiction?)”
Raiders of the Lost App
Years ago, I found an online web-based chat site called BananaChat. This was one of the first of its kind. You would sign in, create a username, and chat on The Balcony. If you wanted a private chat you could “go to another room”—but as I recall, everyone on The Balcony could read your interactions,Continue reading “Raiders of the Lost App”
Wrong Number (2)
And this one went on too long. I thought at first that  it might be a real person pretending to be this persona but the answers do seem a bit reactive and formulaic. And at that point I just hit the block button to wait for the next one.
Wrong Number (1)
I’ve written a lot about the wrong number texts—someone sends a message to a friend but has entered the number incorrectly. Oh, no, sorry, but can we be friends? I used to have fun improvising with them, but lately they’ve been taking a darker turn. And so have I. This week I’ve gotten about 12Continue reading “Wrong Number (1)”
I Hereby Resolve…
A few years back I read an interesting article on New Year’s resolutions. The author suggested that, instead of resolving to do more in the coming year, one should do less. It’s like the scene in the movie Birdcage when they are turning the apartment into a straight-looking residence, and Val says, “Don’t add; subtract.”Continue reading “I Hereby Resolve…”
Trippin’ in the Board Room
First, sing the title of this post to the tune of “Smokin’ in the Boys Room.” Now: some years ago I came up with the theory that advertising agencies were administering hallucinogenics to their employees; to me, this could explain conclusively the bizarre imagery and surreal Dali-esque logic that permeates modern ads. Finding a noteContinue reading “Trippin’ in the Board Room”
MUSOFYR 