By David Himmel

• It’s too soon to write Howard Schultz off as yet another oligarch or self-serving rich pud like Ross Perot with a self-righteous taste for the presidency. Just as I think it’s too soon to think that AOC is the Second Coming of Christ. Give them time. Maybe things’ll play out different than we assume. Maybe.

• Comedy would be dead if it weren’t for gallows humor.

• In an ironic twist, this week’s polar vortex led to an increase in the earth’s average temperature. This is due to a massive increase of Chicagoans giving themselves Dutch ovens to stay warm.

• The litmus test I give myself to determine how well I can exercise patience to control my anger is watching Rachel Maddow on MSNBC with my wife. If I can go 10 minutes without screaming at the television, “Stop talking to us like we’re stupid and you’re smarter than everyone else on the planet, and that any idea besides the one you just snidely chuckled out is wrong!!! You’re as bad as the fucknuts on FOX, you bloviated and conceited drip!!!” I’m doing pretty well.

• Quite often, traveling to a city without having any plans is the best way to experience it.

• It’s been almost one year since I got my first tattoo. I’m ready for the next one. Considering getting Nixon’s face on my back. It seems to make those who have that mark impervious to feelings of self-doubt, guilt, and regret. I’d like to live a life like that.