the thomas jefferson hour

a recording studio at monticello?

so yesterday I got into my car around 1:00 pm and was listening to the npr affiliate from norfolk. it was an interview, featuring an old dude talking about his glory days at william and mary and kept saying things like “in my day, the classroom was more personal” and “in my day, we had mentors” and “in my day, we only ate bean sprouts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” I had no idea what I was listening to. suddenly, the interviewer referred to this crotchety voice from the past as “mr. president.”

this wasn’t either bush…or clinton…or even jimmy carter. so who the hell was it?

well, my friends, it was thomas jefferson. yes, thomas jefferson, taking calls from people around the country and addressing the problems of today from the past.

here’s the website for the THOMAS JEFFERSON HOUR, obviously maintained by someone not thomas jefferson. I don’t mean to belittle tom’s technical abilities–he did invent the lazy susan, after all–but I just don’t think he has the technological know-how to maintain a site like this. as you can see from some of the photos on the jefferson hour website, he clearly broadcasts from a barn filled with hay or lovely, idyllic field. just saying–I don’t see a computer. maybe he sends his website ideas by time-traveling carrier pigeon who drops it on the doorstep of a strange web developer.

still, I wonder what tom would come from the past to say to me. hopefully something like “why did I have to get the two dollar bill?”

on virginia and vanity plates

it seems that everyone in the great state of virginia has a vanity plate. DID YOU KNOW that the first virginia resident to have a vanity plate was thomas jefferson? it’s true. here is a representation of what it looked like:

apparently, these special, special plates are only $10 here. after doing some scholarly research on this intriguing topic, I found this article, which states that one in ten of the nation’s vanity plates are in virginia. one in ten! and there are practically fifty states!

the problem I have with vanity plates is not the sheer dumbness of their existence, no, but the fact that I am convinced that I am going to get in an accident someday trying to decipher one.

for example, see this plate here.

now, maybe a logical explanation would be that REDSNAK translates to “red snake” since the car is a cobra. but what if, in fact, REDSNAK means “red snack”? what if the driver prefers red snacks to all other kinds of snacks? tomatoes, doritos, apples–all of these are quite good snacks (“snaks”). or, what if the owner of this car simply can’t spell?

I think these are all reasonable arguments. I’m sure glad I’m not driving right now, because I probably would have just rearended  mr. or ms. redsnak.

so, what would your vanity plate say? tell me.

p.s. tee hee