I don’t like jumping in the ocean and pretending to be a fish. I don’t surf and I don’t enjoy swimming. ...I don’t enjoy fishing either. I must come … - Michael Scott Gallegos

I trembled at the thought of commenting on The Economist. However, I knew I had to take the leap or I would forever see myself as a sissy failure, a scaredy-cat unable to put his stuff out into the world for a shake and bake session with the big boys.

I learned how to work on automatic pilot over the years. It takes a lot of practice to keep a wife calm. I’ve actually become a wife-whisperer during my 32 years of marriage.

My wife is talking to me this morning without realizing that her words go into my ears and drop directly to my toes. I hear their thud as they land and maybe a small wisp of air as they pass my brain. ...I need her to understand that the alligator in my head is eating the meaning of her words as my toes become crammed with their debris. She will still yell at me, but I have a good excuse now that I have an alligator residing in my head.