{"id":4226,"date":"2025-11-16T10:48:44","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T18:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/gosh-how-goche\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T10:48:44","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T18:48:44","slug":"gosh-how-goche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/gosh-how-goche\/","title":{"rendered":"Gosh, how Goche"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I never used to brag about my society of professional journalists award. For excellence in journalism. Until America\u2019s newspapers ceased to exist. Now it\u2019s a fun thing to say. An ICEbreaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I also never used to brag about my \u201cvery high IQ\u201d \u201ctop 1% in the nation,\u201d Until, of course, people kept telling me how smart the billionaires were. And they AREN\u2019T people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I used to think that kind of bragging was gauche. But then I realized Americans just love it more than anything they love to be told other people are better than them and they love to be submissive. They love authority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I never used to brag about my society of professional journalists award. For excellence in journalism. Until America\u2019s newspapers ceased to exist. Now it\u2019s a fun thing to say. An ICEbreaker. I also never used to brag about my \u201cvery high IQ\u201d \u201ctop 1% in the nation,\u201d Until, of course, people kept telling me how smart the billionaires were. And they AREN\u2019T people. I used to think that kind of bragging was gauche. But then I realized Americans just love it more than anything they love to be told other people are better than them and they love to be&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Gosh, how Goche","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3u13S-16a","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2637,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/war-of-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":4226,"position":0},"title":"War of Words","author":"David Raffin","date":"April 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Language creates problems more often than not. From now on we will go back to grunting. This will work out fine, barring misunderstandings, until the grunting develops into some sort of a systematized\u2026 Dammit.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/img_1079.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/img_1079.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/img_1079.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/img_1079.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":466,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/the-existential-whos-on-first-routine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4226,"position":1},"title":"The existential who&#8217;s on first routine:","author":"David Raffin","date":"October 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Lou: Who's on first? Bud: No one knows. Lou: Surely someone knows? Bud: What does it matter. This conversation continues until one of the participants dies of a heart attack. Approximately 43 years. Third Base!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1459,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/under-the-tree-line\/","url_meta":{"origin":4226,"position":2},"title":"Under the tree line","author":"David Raffin","date":"August 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"You could see the top of the mountain from my house from far away, until it disintegrated into the atmosphere \u2013 putting it below the tree line. The mountain rained down like gray snow. Turning mainland into sandy beach. It blew in the air like heavy smoke. It clogged standard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My books","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/my-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4485,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/the-three-graces\/","url_meta":{"origin":4226,"position":3},"title":"The Three Graces","author":"David Raffin","date":"July 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Joe points toward a statue of three joined entities.\u201cThe Three Graces,\u201d says Joe. \u201cEach based on the famous figure model Audrey Munson. Miss Manhattan.\u201d \u201cWho is that?\u201d \u201cShe was a young woman who found fame, fabulous and fleeting, as an artist\u2019s model. For she could stand stock still for many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My books","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/my-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_7475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_7475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_7475.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_7475.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_7475.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_7475.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2217,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/abbott-v-costello\/","url_meta":{"origin":4226,"position":4},"title":"Abbott v Costello","author":"David Raffin","date":"March 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Abbott was a straight man. The heavy. The ladies' man. And he couldn't take the pressure. In the end, he would become irate when Lou shouted his name at him to get his attention. Somehow he made it work. For him. Moana Wheeza Hey, Abbot\u2026 Hey, Abbot\u2026 Then Abbott began\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/pexels-photo-3957994.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/pexels-photo-3957994.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/pexels-photo-3957994.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/pexels-photo-3957994.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":359,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/mourning-devotional-for-two-universes\/","url_meta":{"origin":4226,"position":5},"title":"Mourning devotional for two universes","author":"David Raffin","date":"August 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Every day I am faced with an ethical dilemma. I never look my mirror self in the eye. One of us is evil. It's best not to know. If I find that I am evil I may have to change my evil ways. As you can imagine, I have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Personal&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Personal","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/writing\/personal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}