Paul J. Bauer
@pauljbauer.bsky.social
Books, botany, baseball, biking...care and feeding of ArchersBooks.com.
From The Odyssey to the Wizard of Oz, the poppy hides in plain sight. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/s...
What Were the Lotus-Eaters Eating in Homer’s ‘Odyssey’? (Gift Article)
In Homer’s epic, Odysseus’s men eat something so powerful that they forget about home. Which plants could have produced such a soporific, narcotic and amnesiac effect?
www.nytimes.com
July 23, 2026 at 2:51 PM
From The Odyssey to the Wizard of Oz, the poppy hides in plain sight. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/s...
The late Hobo Shoestring crossing the Ohio River. The writer Jim Tully wrote about his hoboing in the early 20th century, Shoestring videoed his in the early 21st.
Dangerous ride across the Ohio River in gondola
YouTube video by Hobo Shoestring
www.youtube.com
July 19, 2026 at 4:03 PM
The late Hobo Shoestring crossing the Ohio River. The writer Jim Tully wrote about his hoboing in the early 20th century, Shoestring videoed his in the early 21st.
Celebrating the 4th on the front porch. I never imagined the apocalypse would be so much fun.
July 4, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Celebrating the 4th on the front porch. I never imagined the apocalypse would be so much fun.
"You can know a thing to death and be for all purposes completely ignorant of it. A man can know his father, or his son, and there might still be nothing between them but loyalty and love and mutual incomprehension." Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
June 21, 2026 at 1:45 PM
"You can know a thing to death and be for all purposes completely ignorant of it. A man can know his father, or his son, and there might still be nothing between them but loyalty and love and mutual incomprehension." Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
Happy Father's Day 🖤
June 21, 2026 at 7:08 AM
Happy Father's Day 🖤
To the person I saw driving this morning with the vanity plate "SURREAL." You have captured the zeitgeist in a single word. You are a legend.
June 13, 2026 at 4:20 PM
To the person I saw driving this morning with the vanity plate "SURREAL." You have captured the zeitgeist in a single word. You are a legend.
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
Celebrated novelist William Kennedy, the author of Ironweed, joins LOA LIVE on June 22 for a special conversation with Paul Grondahl, editor of the just-published Library of America edition of the Albany Trilogy. RSVP now for this free online program with one of our greatest living writers.
“O Albany”: Novelist William Kennedy on His Great Cycle of the City
The revered author of Ironweed joins LOA LIVE for a special online discussion with his longtime friend Paul Grondahl
www.eventbrite.com
June 9, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Celebrated novelist William Kennedy, the author of Ironweed, joins LOA LIVE on June 22 for a special conversation with Paul Grondahl, editor of the just-published Library of America edition of the Albany Trilogy. RSVP now for this free online program with one of our greatest living writers.
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
COLBERT: How dumb do you think it is for people to say that I should run for president?
OBAMA: Well, you know, the bar has changed. I think you would perform significantly better than some folks we've seen.
COLBERT: Is that an endorsement?
OBAMA: It was not
OBAMA: Well, you know, the bar has changed. I think you would perform significantly better than some folks we've seen.
COLBERT: Is that an endorsement?
OBAMA: It was not
May 6, 2026 at 12:30 PM
COLBERT: How dumb do you think it is for people to say that I should run for president?
OBAMA: Well, you know, the bar has changed. I think you would perform significantly better than some folks we've seen.
COLBERT: Is that an endorsement?
OBAMA: It was not
OBAMA: Well, you know, the bar has changed. I think you would perform significantly better than some folks we've seen.
COLBERT: Is that an endorsement?
OBAMA: It was not
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
Thanks to Trump's Big Ugly Bill, Amazon saw its corporate income taxes shrink by more than HALF last year, even as its profits climbed.
But instead of investing the savings into their workforce, Amazon just announced thousands of layoffs and plans to spend $200B on AI.
Textbook corporate greed.
But instead of investing the savings into their workforce, Amazon just announced thousands of layoffs and plans to spend $200B on AI.
Textbook corporate greed.
February 6, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Thanks to Trump's Big Ugly Bill, Amazon saw its corporate income taxes shrink by more than HALF last year, even as its profits climbed.
But instead of investing the savings into their workforce, Amazon just announced thousands of layoffs and plans to spend $200B on AI.
Textbook corporate greed.
But instead of investing the savings into their workforce, Amazon just announced thousands of layoffs and plans to spend $200B on AI.
Textbook corporate greed.
In its 60th anniversary catalogue, our friends at The Kent State University Press looked back and chose a few staff picks. Thrilled that Jim Tully's harrowing (and banned) account of circus and carny life was one of them. Thanks Darryl Crosby and, as always, KSUP.
February 4, 2026 at 4:27 PM
In its 60th anniversary catalogue, our friends at The Kent State University Press looked back and chose a few staff picks. Thrilled that Jim Tully's harrowing (and banned) account of circus and carny life was one of them. Thanks Darryl Crosby and, as always, KSUP.
"The last time I refused a drink I didn't understand the question." William Kennedy quoting his old Irish uncle in O Albany!
February 1, 2026 at 7:37 PM
"The last time I refused a drink I didn't understand the question." William Kennedy quoting his old Irish uncle in O Albany!
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
There are approximately 3 million undocumented persons in Texas and Florida, and there are about 100,000 in Minnesota. Ask yourself why ICE has been deployed to MN, but not even close to the same way in FL and TX. This isn't about immigration, it is all about politics and retribution.
January 25, 2026 at 11:35 AM
There are approximately 3 million undocumented persons in Texas and Florida, and there are about 100,000 in Minnesota. Ask yourself why ICE has been deployed to MN, but not even close to the same way in FL and TX. This isn't about immigration, it is all about politics and retribution.
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
It's a Jack Smith fight. And the GOP shitheels showed up with a Jim Jordan.
January 22, 2026 at 4:47 PM
It's a Jack Smith fight. And the GOP shitheels showed up with a Jim Jordan.
"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." HL Mencken
January 19, 2026 at 3:49 PM
"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." HL Mencken
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/06/b... I'm an absolute sucker for field guides and am especially fond of regional and niche guides
Liverwort or Moss? Horny Toad or Fence Lizard? Niche Field Guides Can Tell You.
www.nytimes.com
January 18, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/06/b... I'm an absolute sucker for field guides and am especially fond of regional and niche guides
I respectfully ask the Tigers' Tarik Skubal to give the Cy Young Award to my grandmother's parakeet. Nobody deserves it more than "Prettty Boy." He didn't give up a single run last season and didn't walk a single batter. He did this despite having no arms and having been dead for sixty years.
January 16, 2026 at 1:22 PM
I respectfully ask the Tigers' Tarik Skubal to give the Cy Young Award to my grandmother's parakeet. Nobody deserves it more than "Prettty Boy." He didn't give up a single run last season and didn't walk a single batter. He did this despite having no arms and having been dead for sixty years.
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
Worth every second
January 15, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Worth every second
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
bsky.app/profile/back...
A simple concept: three or four people discussing old books. I started with Paul Theroux' Kingdom by the Sea. I read it when it was released in 1983 and am somewhat alarmed that it is considered "old." The shoe, I suppose, fits. Highly recommended.
A simple concept: three or four people discussing old books. I started with Paul Theroux' Kingdom by the Sea. I read it when it was released in 1983 and am somewhat alarmed that it is considered "old." The shoe, I suppose, fits. Highly recommended.
bsky.app
December 30, 2025 at 5:43 PM
bsky.app/profile/back...
A simple concept: three or four people discussing old books. I started with Paul Theroux' Kingdom by the Sea. I read it when it was released in 1983 and am somewhat alarmed that it is considered "old." The shoe, I suppose, fits. Highly recommended.
A simple concept: three or four people discussing old books. I started with Paul Theroux' Kingdom by the Sea. I read it when it was released in 1983 and am somewhat alarmed that it is considered "old." The shoe, I suppose, fits. Highly recommended.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/b...
Putting their voice to their words.
Putting their voice to their words.
Joan Didion and Kurt Vonnegut Had Something to Say. We Have It on Tape.
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:24 PM
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/b...
Putting their voice to their words.
Putting their voice to their words.
All the lists of the best books of 2025 are coming out and I realize I'm still working on the best books of 1925. I'm never going to get caught up at this rate!
December 4, 2025 at 3:27 PM
All the lists of the best books of 2025 are coming out and I realize I'm still working on the best books of 1925. I'm never going to get caught up at this rate!
A scene I love from Ron Chernow's new biography of Mark Twain describes him playing with his daughters, They are blowing soap bubbles. His are filled with cigar smoke.
December 2, 2025 at 12:47 PM
A scene I love from Ron Chernow's new biography of Mark Twain describes him playing with his daughters, They are blowing soap bubbles. His are filled with cigar smoke.
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
True tale: A Baltimore police colonel called a rival at 3 a.m. from a crime scene: "Leon, I got you now. You fucked up. You wrote "POLICE" backwards on the front of the EVU truck."
"Eddie, that's so it reads correctly in a rear view mirror."
Long pause.
"Aw Leon, you got an answer for everything."
"Eddie, that's so it reads correctly in a rear view mirror."
Long pause.
"Aw Leon, you got an answer for everything."
November 25, 2025 at 3:14 PM
True tale: A Baltimore police colonel called a rival at 3 a.m. from a crime scene: "Leon, I got you now. You fucked up. You wrote "POLICE" backwards on the front of the EVU truck."
"Eddie, that's so it reads correctly in a rear view mirror."
Long pause.
"Aw Leon, you got an answer for everything."
"Eddie, that's so it reads correctly in a rear view mirror."
Long pause.
"Aw Leon, you got an answer for everything."
Reposted by Paul J. Bauer
youtu.be/dxaZsKo7KWw?...
RFK Jr. would like us to ignore the problem of bacterial contamination of unpasteurized milk.
RFK Jr. would like us to ignore the problem of bacterial contamination of unpasteurized milk.
Beyond the Noise #85: See no evil
YouTube video by MicrobeTV
youtu.be
November 21, 2025 at 1:31 PM
youtu.be/dxaZsKo7KWw?...
RFK Jr. would like us to ignore the problem of bacterial contamination of unpasteurized milk.
RFK Jr. would like us to ignore the problem of bacterial contamination of unpasteurized milk.