Danny Lavery

“Oh, don’t be tiresome,” said Zebulun, chapeau-bras balanced just so atop his white powdered wig, his wrists and throat absolutely foaming with lace. “I think it’s refreshing.” www.thechatner.com/p/many-coats...

Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods open.substack.com/pub/dmlavery...

Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods open.substack.com/pub/dmlavery...

“A bird, a special bird. I don’t know what kind. Like a tender animal”: Children’s Rorschach Test Results from 1953 www.thechatner.com/p/a-bird-a-s...

ranking the 112 mottos of the 114 Livery Companies of London. some obvious winners ("Wool is Our Hope" the medieval equivalent of Jenna Maroney's wool song) and equally obvious duds (“Property, People and Liberty” in that order??) www.thechatner.com/p/wool-is-ou...

ranking the 112 mottos of the 114 Livery Companies of London. some obvious winners ("Wool is Our Hope" the medieval equivalent of Jenna Maroney's wool song) and equally obvious duds (“Property, People and Liberty” in that order??) www.thechatner.com/p/wool-is-ou...

the books in free little libraries in Berkeley never disappoint

"Whenever I stay at the monastery I bring a loaf of good bread, some peanut butter, a quart of minestrone soup, some fruit and cheese, and eat the same meal for the duration of my stay in quiet, deranged happiness." www.thechatner.com/p/eating-mon...

The hour does not call for less wine, I think. Let’s pit pain against the grape and see which puts paid to which. Let me sleep. Let’s all sleep. Delia’s husband has locked all the doors to the house. I call that surly. I call that churlish. I hope lightning strikes him everywhere. Him and his doors.

The hour does not call for less wine, I think. Let’s pit pain against the grape and see which puts paid to which. Let me sleep. Let’s all sleep. Delia’s husband has locked all the doors to the house. I call that surly. I call that churlish. I hope lightning strikes him everywhere. Him and his doors.

The Elegies of Tibullus, indirectly translated by someone who does not read Latin: www.thechatner.com/p/the-elegie...

Hot Borscht at the Soviet Consulate: Visiting the Archives for Women's Hotel III www.thechatner.com/p/hot-borsch...

"Big cup. Big cup! Bring me the bigggg cup you are the boy who brings wine so be the boy bringing me wine" return of Catullus www.thechatner.com/p/the-return...

"Big cup. Big cup! Bring me the bigggg cup you are the boy who brings wine so be the boy bringing me wine" return of Catullus www.thechatner.com/p/the-return...

I wrote about AI in senior living. It's mostly just people watching AI-narrated videos on speakerphone in the break room and people asking if we're ever getting robot servers in the dining room. otherwise it's pretty much not around: www.thechatner.com/p/we-getting...

I wrote about AI in senior living. It's mostly just people watching AI-narrated videos on speakerphone in the break room and people asking if we're ever getting robot servers in the dining room. otherwise it's pretty much not around: www.thechatner.com/p/we-getting...

I talked about Ruritanian romances from The Prisoner of Zenda to Grand Budapest Hotel with Rafe Meager for the newsletter: www.thechatner.com/p/the-lady-v...

“Oh, I’m glad you reminded me,” she said. “At least now I’ll have beautiful feet.” “That’s worth having,” I said, “especially if you’re discalced.” How often in life do you get a setup like that? A nun, on her way to a podiatry appointment — never happen again.

Listen, buddy, I see a hundred of you guys a day. We’ve got a lot of mothers in the building, after all. www.thechatner.com/p/i-like-cov...

Listen, buddy, I see a hundred of you guys a day. We’ve got a lot of mothers in the building, after all. www.thechatner.com/p/i-like-cov...

I spoke to some friends about the worst things we ever said to our mothers, as well as the nicest things we ever did for them. "She got the dry cleaning and just drove off without even looking at me. So I walked home from the middle of town." www.thechatner.com/p/turnabout-...

because turnabout is fair play, I asked my friends about the worst things they'd ever said to their mothers: www.thechatner.com/p/turnabout-...

as is my custom, I asked a bunch of my friends about the worst thing their mothers have ever said to them ("you and your brother are living marginal lives") and then, in the interest of fairness, the nicest things their mothers have ever done www.thechatner.com/p/i-asked-my...

as is my custom, I asked a bunch of my friends about the worst thing their mothers have ever said to them ("you and your brother are living marginal lives") and then, in the interest of fairness, the nicest things their mothers have ever done www.thechatner.com/p/i-asked-my...

They’re your floors. It’s good to keep your floors clean; you can take a good kind of pride in it. People go through a lot by the time they get here. It’s important to be of good cheer. www.thechatner.com/p/once-a-wee...

I don’t have a mop, I use a Swiffer WetJet. It’s not very good. I don’t recommend it as a product, although it is easy to use and less messy than a mop. It gets the floor just clean enough that you think, “I guess that looks better,” and move on with your day.

They’re your floors. It’s good to keep your floors clean; you can take a good kind of pride in it. People go through a lot by the time they get here. It’s important to be of good cheer. www.thechatner.com/p/once-a-wee...

“I wonder if you realize how rare this is, and how much I ought to be fussed over for not having done one serious epigraph and one funny epigraph.” open.substack.com/pub/dmlavery...

I think Maddie’s Secret compares unfavorably to, say, the Brady Bunch Movie, but I nevertheless enjoyed thinking about its limitations

as a bonus I have included Elizabeth Inchbald's September happiness-ranking diaries entries

“like all ingenues, she is blonde and has precisely two enemies”

Early plays dishonesty magnificently, although he has typically focused on the dishonest and venomous, not the dishonest and kind. www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...

I asked if she minded the habit, or merely noticed it. She gave it some thought. Mostly noticed it, rather than minded, especially if I knew I was doing it That’s fine, I said. You let me know if you start to mind it more than notice it, and I’ll see what I can do www.thechatner.com/p/im-a-man-w...

It’s in season two that we see the beginning of Pete’s desperate hope of total personal transformation via hat. www.thechatner.com/p/every-pete...

btw come to the Mechanics' Institute in SF tonight at 6pm if you want to hear me talk about my latest book www.milibrary.org/events/34323

btw come to the Mechanics' Institute in SF tonight at 6pm if you want to hear me talk about my latest book www.milibrary.org/events/34323

working on ranking every Pete Hornberger 30 Rock subplot one season at a time: open.substack.com/pub/dmlavery...

the very first thing Babar says, after great grief, is "I want clothes," much like Job who, after his restoration from suffering, names his daughters after cinnamon and eye makeup. www.thechatner.com/p/babar-the-...

the very first thing Babar says, after great grief, is "I want clothes," much like Job who, after his restoration from suffering, names his daughters after cinnamon and eye makeup. www.thechatner.com/p/babar-the-...

QUESTION #1: How long was this decision in the works? Was there a planning committee, and if so, did you follow Robert’s Rules of Order, Erskine May’s Parliamentary Procedure, an alternate decision-making process, etc? ANSWER: It was entirely unplanned. www.thechatner.com/p/fielding-q...

we emperors tend rather to look down on those among us whose viziers do not scheme. "Poor fellow," we say to ourselves, "his throne must not be worth intriguing for." www.thechatner.com/p/emperors-w...

EURYADES: Is she as pretty as Helen? ANTINOUS: I don’t think it’s sporting, comparing women’s looks like that. EURYADES: Well, was she born in an egg or anything? ANTINOUS: I think in the ordinary way. www.thechatner.com/p/the-courts...