When my older brother was teaching at Cal State Northridge...back in the 20th century...he had an office mate who was famous for his Kentucky wisdom. One thing he said a lot was, "If you want someone to think you're smart, tell them you think they're smart."When I first heard it, I thought it was just an ism from a glad-hander. But over the years, I've seen it work. And work. And work. And, there's a flip side. If you know you're going to have to come up with a plausible support for the claim that somebody is smart, you start…

Last weekend, we saw three awesome bluegrass (well sort of) shows at The Peace Center Bluegrass Festival. I hope they keep having the festival, because it is an awesome place to hear good music, and because a little Bluegrass is a good foil for the high culture we usually find there. Cherryholmes. There is a lot to like about this family group. The dad's beard is a work of art. The mom is obviously an excellent musician, and should be hugged for home-schooling an entire bluegrass band. The older sister plays a pretty good banjo and is a solid singer.…

I found out last night that there's a plumber in Ohio, Joe the Plumber, who has a taxable income over $250,000 a year. Hey, I'm from Ohio. I think I could learn to be a plumber. Sounds like a great deal to me. But if I were a plumber, with a taxable income over $250,000 a year, I think I would use some of it to hire a good tax accountant and develop a tax strategy. The deduction for those professional fees alone would knock down the taxable total by a couple thousand. Maybe I could write off some wrenches.…