Joe Queenan, The Wall Street Journal Journalist Profile

Articles

Why Did the Algorithms Send Me Here?

2 weeks ago | wsj.com | Joe Queenan

If I’m expected to enjoy a lacrosse team’s ‘comedy night,’ the system has gone kerflooeyI love algorithms. I have always relied on them to keep me apprised of products, events and services to improve my life. Algorithms alerted me to the superb walking shoes that helped cure my tendinitis and let me know that the Rolling Stones would be playing in Denver while I visited last June. I have algorithms to thank for many books I read, plays I attend and the foods that I eat.
I’m Not Giving Up on What I Gave Up for Lent

1 month ago | wsj.com | Joe Queenan

This year, for the first time in decades, I decided to observe Lent. I was raised Catholic—I was even in the seminary for a year—but the fasting idea came about mostly because I’d been slamming away far too much dessert lately. The deal I made with myself was: No sweets for 40 days. No cookies. No candy. No ice cream. None. Things went well on Ash Wednesday. The closest I got to a bona fide sweetstuff was a banana—and fruit lies outside the purview of the Lenten bailiwick.
Younger People Aren’t So Bad, It Turns Out

1 month ago | wsj.com | Joe Queenan

When people reach retirement age, they cast about for things to occupy their time. Golf. Finishing “Middlemarch.” Visiting every state capitol. Senior karaoke. For something completely different, there is always…the bright lights of the stage! At least for me. A few years ago, I started writing plays with an old friend. We did four of them together, but because I didn’t produce or direct the plays myself, my interaction with the cast was limited.
Younger People Aren’t So Bad, It Turns Out

1 month ago | wsj.com | Joe Queenan

When people reach retirement age, they cast about for things to occupy their time. Golf. Finishing “Middlemarch.” Visiting every state capitol. Senior karaoke. For something completely different, there is always…the bright lights of the stage! At least for me. A few years ago, I started writing plays with an old friend. We did four of them together, but because I didn’t produce or direct the plays myself, my interaction with the cast was limited.
Eagles Fans, Bring Out All of Your Lucky Charms for the Super Bowl

2 months ago | msn.com | Joe Queenan

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Eagles Fans, Bring Out All of Your Lucky Charms for the Super Bowl

2 months ago | sports.yahoo.com | Joe Queenan

Eagles Fans, Bring Out All of Your Lucky Charms for the Super BowlEagles Fans, Bring Out All of Your Lucky Charms for the Super BowlDuring the previous playoff wins over the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams, I had used virtually all the lucky T-shirts that I donned during the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.
Be Careful What Gifts You Shower With Praise. You May Get Many, Many More.

Dec 6, 2024 | wsj.com | Joe Queenan

When the pineapple cheesecake, a truly revolutionary pastry, hit Philadelphia in the early ’60s, I must have told my mother that it was the most sublime foodstuff known to man. Because for the next 47 years, almost to the day she died, my mother ceaselessly plied me with supermarket-bought pineapple cheesecakes. When she visited me at the seminary outside Scranton, Pa., where I briefly studied in 1964, she brought along a pineapple cheesecake.
Chess Has New Rules And Other Games Should Too

Nov 28, 2024 | msn.com | Joe Queenan

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Chess Has New Rules and Other Games Should Too

Nov 28, 2024 | news.yahoo.com | Joe Queenan

If they’re being honest, chess players will admit that their cherished game can be unbelievably boring. Ever since my Uncle Jerry used to annihilate me when I was 9 years old, I realized that in chess the person with the longest memory usually wins. Thus, I was thrilled when I read that the planet’s two top chess players were facing off in a radically reimagined version of the game.
Chess Has New Rules and Other Games Should Too

Nov 28, 2024 | wsj.com | Joe Queenan

How about easier versions of Clue and Candyland and Stratego? If they’re being honest, chess players will admit that their cherished game can be unbelievably boring. People who have been playing for years keep repeating moves they have made over and over again and then try to act surprised when their less experienced opponents get clobbered.