Swartz’s Shorts (Not Short Pants)

This week I’m clearing out my notebook of short topics that never blossomed into full-blown Sunday columns. I hope you find something here that makes you chuckle, think or pet a raccoon.

Damn kids with their halos and floating balls. Bah!

Being a Curmudgeon is a Choice

I don’t know what else to say in addition to the headline. But y’all paid for this, so here we go.

You don’t have to become a bitter, calcified hermit who looks askance at young or tattooed or non-traditional woodworkers. Yup, I’m talking to the disgruntled dovetailers, the acerbic awl-ers, the splenetic sex-nut installers (I’ll admit that one was a stretch – how about splenetic sawyers?).

As I finish out my 56th year, I’ve noticed my friends ramping up their complaints about young people. Lazy, entitled, do-nothings who don’t want to show up to work, who demand trigger warnings before mildly difficult conversations and take offense at almost every joke.

I’m here to tell you that the problem isn’t them. It’s you.

Consider – al…