Tuesday, 7/22/08: "A Secret Society of 30 Million"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/opinion/22tue4.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Verlyn Klinkenborg isn't sure how he feels about the Internet.

Friday, 7/18/08: "Summer Wind"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/opinion/18fri4.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

It's windy!

Sunday, 7/6/08: "Summer Reading"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/opinion/06sun4.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Summer is a great time for Verlyn Klinkenborg to read books.

Klinkenborg Kopykats: Anonymous Editorial, "The Meaning of a Day"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/04/opinion/04fri4.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

Okay, so technically Verlyn Klinkenborg's name isn't attached to this one. But that's got to be an editing error, or else Verlyn has elected to take his name off this column. Don't be shy, Klink! We know it's you! How could it not be?

Summary: It's the Fourth of July.

Notably Klinkenborgian passage:

It is the buoy, or perhaps the cannonade, that marks the beginning of high summer.

The early vegetables in the garden are over, and now is about the time when the lettuce thinks about bolting. The weeds along the lake edge are coming on thick and strong, and the ponds are nearly all covered with a solid mat of green. High summer is the time of black shade in the woods and black underbellies on the thunderheads that seem to billow up out of the muggy afternoons.

Is the word "éclat" used? Yes.

Has Klinkenborg been out-Klinkenborged? No -- this obviously is Verlyn Klinkenborg. You can't fool us, Klink!

The author wishes a happy Fourth of July to this blog's legions of fans.

Tuesday, 6/24/08: "Some Doubts Upon Entering a New Carboniferous Era"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/opinion/24tue4.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=verlyn+klinkenborg&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Verlyn Klinkenborg just noticed that people sure are talking a lot about "carbon footprints" nowadays! For example, on the subway, and at Wal-Mart. And that's just two examples!

He would like us to know that he does NOT believe that language alone will solve the problem, he does NOT believe in the effectiveness of carbon offsets, he is NOT a climate-change skeptic, and that there is NOTHING trivial about carbon footprints.

So what does he believe? Well, he'll get to that in another column. (Just kidding.)

Thursday, 6/19/08: "Appreciations -- Cyd Charisse"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/opinion/19thu4.html?scp=1&sq=cyd+charisse&st=nyt

Verlyn Klinkenborg appreciates Cyd Charisse. Who among us doesn't? However, I majored in critical studies of cinema, and I still have no idea what he means when he says:

The song is “Dancing in the Dark,” the setting is Central Park, and, as usual, the overlapping illusions are nearly confounding. There they are — two professional dancers, carefully choreographed and rehearsed, playing two professional dancers dancing spontaneously on a soundstage that is meant to be Central Park, and all the while they are feigning an almost reproachful, amorous awareness of each other that conceals the hard-working awareness of two pros on the job. It was Cyd Charisse’s remarkable gift to move through the hall of mirrors that is the American movie musical and never be caught glancing at herself.

Oh well: if it made sense, it wouldn't be Verlyn Klinkenborg.

Sunday, 6/15/08: "Fuel Thoughts"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/opinion/15sun4.html?ref=opinion

Verlyn Klinkenborg just noticed that fuel prices have gone up.