030623 — Blog — Rulerless

A blob of sugar dough

There’s a part of my hometown that’s like a teeny-tiny Atlantic City boardwalk, right down to the amusement park, the arcade, and the saltwater taffy.

The place that has the saltwater taffy is called The Goldenrod. Open only in the summer, it s a York Beach institution. The restaurant, which has a soda fountain, a stone fireplace, and lacquered wooden tables, used to sell penny candy by the piece at a counter always staffed by a very patient young college student. Founded in 1896, The Goldenrod was already full of nostalgia when I was a kid.

Casey von NeumannFebruary 15, 2023030623, 031423, 031723Comment

No one is to blame

When my niece was about four, she grew frustrated in the middle of trying to write something.

“This is the [most] tewwible W I’ve evew seen!” she said angrily, shoving her paper across the table.

I felt bad for thinking about how cute she was. Of course I knew just how she felt. I’ve had my own version of “This is the tewwible W I’ve evew seen.”

Casey von NeumannFebruary 7, 2023022723, 030623, 030523 Comments

What to do when learning is frustrating

A friend of mine is learning German.

She’s trying. But she keeps stalling out.

A brilliant woman with multiple degrees, she is certainly capable of learning a new language. However, she’s getting stuck. “I don’t want to be frustrated like this in my free time.” The process is feeling awfully unpleasant for something she’s doing for fun.

Casey von NeumannNovember 23, 2022010223, 030623, 041023Comment

We don’t know how we’re growing

When my little cousin went to preschool for the first time, she had a wonderful experience.

Nevertheless, as she was leaving at the end of the day, she said loudly to her mother, “I didn’t learn anything.”

Hopefully, that made her teachers (and the school director) laugh. Regardless of what the child’s expectations were, she definitely learned something.

Casey von NeumannOctober 11, 2022102522, 102622, 103122, 110422, 022123, 030623 Comments

Three ways to tell you’re getting better

I have had an uneven tennis season.

I started back to the sport at the end of February and benefited from being in Atlanta, a tennis mecca if there ever was one. I had lost most of my tennis friends when I moved away shortly before the pandemic, but I worked my way up to playing five or six days a week through a combination of clinics, flex league matches, and casual play with friends and family.

Casey von NeumannJuly 15, 2022081122, 082522, 101122, 112322, 120722, 012023, 030623, 030423 Comments