VOCABULARY ENRICHMENT

Imagine my surprise, in listening to the coverage of  the Senate hearing of Mr. Kavanaugh, that it would provide me with TWO hitherto unknown terms:

BOOF and DEVIL'S TRIANGLE.

I have always enjoyed vocabulary enrichment, but I could have lived happilythe remainder of my life without knowing those terms.

SIT NEXT TO ME!

We spent an enjoyable evening with Daren and Connie at The Funny Bone.  When we were being seated I specifically asked NOT to be seated next to the stage. We enjoyed all three performers but had only heard of one of them previously.  Naturally the menu featured items associated with comedians and I ordered Bernie Mac 'n Cheese with shrimp.  

I reminisced about the time that Gerald and I decided to go to a comedy club after we had attended a wedding. I was wearing a long dress and Gerald was wearing a brocade dinner jacket and a velvet bow tie. We were obviously "overdressed" for a comedy club.

A comedian was already onstage, performing. As we were being escorted to our seats the comedian said, "Hey, you look like the guy on top of a wedding cake!", to which I responded, "But YOU don't look like Alice Roosevelt." The comedian said, "Don't step on my punch lines, Lady!"
In the 1944 election when Thomas Dewey ran against FDR, Alice Roosevelt Longworth was quoted as saying that Dewey couldn't win because he looked like the guy on top of a wedding cake!

Later, when the comedian came out into the audience with his microphone, he had a great time ridiculing our clothes. He told Gerald to stand up to model and when Gerald stood up, I began applauding and cheering.  Fortunately, the comedian went to another table to abuse those folks.

My favorite Alice Roosevelt Longworth quote: "If you can't say something nice about somebody, come over and sit next to me!"

THYROID CANCER

The fastest growing cancer in women which is thyroid cancer.  As there have been thyroid abnormalities within my family (goiter, etc.), I am very interested. 

The increase could possibly be related to the use of dental x-rays and mammograms.  On the apron dentists put on patients for dental x-rays, there is a little flap that can be lifted up and wrapped around the patient's neck.  Many dentists don't bother to use it. Also, there is something called a "thyroid guard" for use during mammograms. 

When I had my yearly mammogram, I felt a little silly, but I asked about the thyroid  guard and sure enough, the technician had one in a drawer. I asked why it wasn't routinely used. Answer: "I don't know; you have to ask for it."

We need to pass this on to our daughters, nieces, mothers, and to all of our female friends and husbands.

IMMANENT?

The word for today is IMMANENT (see below). Of course I know imminent and eminent; why didn't I know immanent? Whenever I learn that a word is derived from Latin and I do not know it, I become upset with myself, because I used to be very good with Latin derivatives!

When my teacher of Latin died, I used a quote in Latin from Cicero on the sympathy card with the flowers I sent. Her daughter told me how much she appreciated it and she was sure that her mother would have appreciated it.

She and I laughed because I told her that for Third Year Latin, I asked her mother if I could translate OVID and I was given an emphatic "NO!"; instead I translated Virgil! The following year I asked once again to translate Ovid but was assigned Cicero.

From MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO: "Assiduus usus uni rei deditus et ingenuum et artem saepe vinat." ("Constant practice devoted to one subject often outdoes both intelligence and skill.")

Sometimes it paid to be a GRIND!


WORD FOR THE DAY

immanent 

PRONUNCIATION:
(IM-uh-nuhnt)

MEANING:
adjective:
1. Inherent; spread throughout.
2. Subjective: taking place within the mind and having no effect outside of it.

HALF A LIE

Recently, at a gathering, one of my friends, a movie aficionado, and I were discussing movies and she mentioned that she'd just watched Funny Girl for the umpteenth time and there was an actress whose name she couldn't remember. When she told about the character I said, "Anne Francis" and we spoke of other roles we'd seen Francis play. My friend then said how much Barbra had changed over the years and I remarked, "Well, after all, she'll be 76 in April, but she still looks pretty damned good!" [YES, I do know Barbra's birthday!]

A woman whom I will admit, I do not like, said, "Well, with all those face lifts and Botox, she should!" I pounced and said, "Were you there when she supposedly had it done?" She looked stunned at being confronted, but I'll give the woman credit because she responded with, "That's why she can't sing any more; she can't move her mouth!"  Stifling an urge to laugh because it was funny, I literally screamed, "CAN'T sing? When's the last time you heard her sing? I just so happen to have her Concert CD in my car right now and she sounds great!" The woman countered with, "They say so." Of course I didn't give her the opportunity to continue. I said, "A wise man once said, "They say so is half a lie." but you just told a whole lie because YOU weren't there and cannot say anything about her!" Fortunately, the woman left in a huff. If she had just said that she didn't like Barbra then it would not have bothered me, but she had to couch her dislike with ignorance.

I do confront people by saying, "Were you there?"; "Did you see it yourself?"; "How do you know?"; "I don't believe it.", and "I seriously doubt that.", among other charming retorts. Of course I know this is an irritant but I dislike it when people use gross generalizations, stunning stereotypes, blatant bigotry, and malicious maligning (oh, how I love the alliteration of that last sentence) and try to pass them off as facts.

Why do I care? Hell if I know!

STAMPED FOREVER

I love stamps, but I am NOT a stamp collector, although I do like the word philatelist!   With online bill payment, we don't use many stamps until I am ready to mail Christmas cards but during the rest of the year, I like to use stamps which are meaningful to me or others. Over the years I have amassed a large amount of usable stamps with different denominations. 

Recently, wanting to have a political mailing economically, I decided to use all those old stamps.  Enlisting the help of my friend Char, she asked, "How long have you planned this project?"  I held up a 15-cent stamp and said, "A LONG time!"

She said, "Thank goodness for Forever stamps!"  I had to take some stamps to the post office to determine the value.  Using 1-cent, 2-cent, 5-cent, and 10-cent stamps, Char and I pieced together more than enough for 500 envelopes which saved the Party $250.00.


I like to use stamps which are relevant to the person to whom I'm sending. When the John Wayne stamps were issued, I bought a sheet for my brother, a John Wayne fan. The mother of one of my sisters-in-law was thrilled because I sent her a note and used a Cary Grant stamp, her favorite actor. I gave her the remainder from the sheet.  My friend Mona Lisa always notices the stamps and comments about the significance. Whether it's a yellow rose, favorite actor, historical figure, and yes, even sports, she notices.

One person asked me, "Did you know that the person on the stamp was a favorite of mine?" Well, DUH!

When the Elvis stamps were issued, of course, I bought several sheets and I have used them sparingly over the years JUST to send to fellow Elvis fans on special Elvis occasions. Last year an Elvis Forever stamp became available and I purchased several sheets.



I bought a sheet of Mark Twain stamps because I adore Mark Twain and I sent half the sheet to a Facebook friend (whom I have never met) from St. Joseph, MO, because he quotes Twain.

An older friend loved Roy Rogers; I sent him all of the Roy Rogers stamps from the "Western Heroes" sheet and I put a Gene Autry stamp on the envelope. Inside I wrote:

"Knock knock.
Who's there?
Kilroy.
Kilroy who?
KILL Roy rogers, I'm a Gene Autry fan!"

After that, when we would be together at gatherings, he would joyfully tell about my sending the stamps and the awful "Knock Knock" joke. Gerald said, "I can't believe how much that meant to him!"

Imagine my excitement when the Audrey Hepburn stamps were issued! 

Gerald bought Katherine Hepburn stamps by mistake; I cannot tolerate her. Obviously I still had 20 of those.


It was a hoot when I saw Char pick up a 32-cent stamp and say, "Let's see, I need one 10-cent stamp, one 5-cent, one 2-cent, and one 1-cent."  I asked,  "Is there enough room on the envelope?"

AGE LIKE AN EAGLE

We all need to learn and adapt about aging.  Consider the eagle:














When it rains, most birds head for shelter; the eagle is the only bird that, in order to avoid the rain, starts flying above the clouds.

An amazing tidbit about the eagle's eyesight: the eagle can probably identify a rabbit moving almost a mile away. That means that an eagle flying at an altitude of 1000 feet over open country could spot prey over an area of almost 3 square miles from a fixed position.

SLIM TO NONE

Les asked, "What's the difference between fat chance and slim chance?"

I said, "I think fat chance means there's no hope and slim chance means there's some hope."

I conducted a survey with the people I encountered today and nearly all agreed that fat chance and slim chance are the same thing.

Then my friend John told me, "You've got two choices: Fat and Slim and Slim just left town."

I think that "fat chance" is usually said sarcastically or ironically.

STYE-LISH

Recently I awoke with a swollen area below my eye. Within a day it looked inflamed and I began to wear sunglasses. Unbelievably, I do not own a pair of sunglasses, except for my prescription glasses which turn dark in the sunlight,  but Gerald, who has an obsession with sunglasses, has a rack in the laundry room to hold his collection. I took the first pair from there and they were gigantic and I began wearing them.

After the swelling progressed to my cheekbone, I went to Urgent Care.

It was 7:00 PM and I was sitting in the waiting room and I was trying my best to "channel" Jacqueline Kennedy with the big, dark sunglasses. The room was crowded and there was an annoying child romping around and he kept looking at me. In his loud, irritating voice I heard him ask his mommy, "Is she blind?" When it was my turn to go into the examination room, I began clinging to the wall, "feeling" my way to the door!

The receptionist, who was holding the door for me to enter, asked, "Sue, are you feeling faint?" I told her about the brat. She laughed and told me that I am terrible. Hell, we already knew THAT, didn't we?

The nurse practitioner diagnosed a stye, gave me a shot, a prescription for salve, and a recommendation to use hot compresses.

I thought that styes were only at the eyelids but learned they can be anywhere! 

RED PEN

I enjoy the daily messages from URBAN DICTIONARY and have introduced a number of people to the site.

However, this morning, I received a "forward" of today's message (see below) with a single comment: "AHEM"!

Ahem? Hmmm? Could that message, perchance, suggest that I, myself, am guilty of the infraction of being a member of the "Red Pen Police"?

Despite opinion to the contrary, I DO NOT commit that egregious act! However, I am known to collect such examples and publish them under the heading: "CRINGE: FAYETTE COUNTY TALK".

In the preceding paragraph, I used the word "egregious", although I had promised my brother I would refrain from using it as I admittedly have overused it in the past. Since I've been a good girl for several months, I thought I might be forgiven for using it in a semi-self-deprecating way.

Red Pen Police:
People who preoccupy themselves with correcting the spelling and grammar of others - normally out of some self-esteem issue or desire to prove some value from their otherwise useless thirty-grand education.

INTERVIEWING REWARDS

In the Arthritis Foundation's Low Impact Water Exercise Program, the ages of the participants range from people in their twenties to the nineties. Several years ago, two older women came together and one of them, Bea, was in her 80's, the other, Martha, was in her 90s. Although Bea had been diagnosed with dementia, she still drove, and Martha, who was legally blind, was "sharp as a tack". One day Bea and Martha did not come to class and we learned that there had been an automobile accident and Bea was injured. Bea was away from class for awhile and although the accident was not her fault, she no longer drove.

Agnes, another classmate, said that she would bring Martha to class and I volunteered to bring Bea and take her home as she lived in my neighborhood. We had classes three days a week, and each day, I would drive up in her driveway, and Bea would be waiting; I would alight from the car, grab her satchel and off we would go to class. After class, I would take her home and I would get out of the car and make sure she was IN the house. She had a garage door opener in her bag and she would open the garage door and I would accompany her through the garage to her kitchen. I noticed Post-It Notes on the stove, refrigerator, table, etc. One day, she forgot the garage door opener. She said, "I have the code in my wallet." She handed it to me. I felt strange, knowing the code to her house. I thought to myself, "I wonder WHY none of her children has gotten in contact with me? I can't imagine that I would have allowed a stranger to have such access to my mother." Agnes said that I was an overly suspicious person. I answered, "This is how elderly people could be taken advantage of, swindled, and scammed."

Each day, during the 7-8 minutes I would spend in the car with Bea, I "interviewed" her. Although losing her short-term memory, her recollection of by-gone times seemed quite keen. I learned that she grew up in Minnesota; her father was a butcher who died when she was thirteen; her mother ran the butcher shop after the death of Bea's father. Bea met her future husband and they married and moved to a farm. They eventually moved to Ohio; she was the mother of five children and was a widow.

One day the attendant at the pool reminded Bea that she needed to pay her fee. She said that she would have to get her son to write a check. When we got to her house, I asked Bea if she wanted me to write a note to her son. I put the note on the refrigerator, with my name and telephone number. She brought a check with her the next time.

One day, during a conversation at the pool, someone said that she was "an old farm girl". Bea piped up and said, "I was a farm girl too." I said, "Bea, NO you weren't; you grew up in town; your dad was a butcher; he died when you were thirteen; you helped your mother at the butcher shop and when you got married that's when you moved to a farm." Bea giggled, sheepishly, but asked, incredulously, "HOW do you know all that?" Agnes said, sardonically, "Bea, if you wanna know anything about yourself, ask Sue; she interviews everybody and she doesn't forget anything!"

I am still stunned that none of the members of her family ever got in contact with the STRANGER who was with their mother three mornings a week for nearly a year. At Bea's funeral, I introduced myself and one of Bea's daughters asked how I knew her mother!

CARDIO

FROM MONA LISA

Get a glass of red wine and watch the video to the end.

My doctor recently suggested that I take up the hula hoop for a good type of cardio exercise.

She also advised me that it was not as easy now as it was when I was 15.

I quickly informed her that I couldn't hula hoop even when I was 15.

So, the next day I went to K-Mart and bought a hoop.

It's true, I STILL can't master the darned thing, try as I might.

Then, lo and behold, this video was sent to me today.

I now have a purpose for honing my hula hoop skills (although I don't think this is exactly what she had in mind).

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

I've got the wine part down pat, however.

It gets better and better! JUST WAIT TILL THE END.

CLICK HERE to watch.

PERICHOR

Loving words as I do, I read an article in The Week, an online media that outlined the 19 Outstanding Words You Should Be Working Into Conversation.

I didn't know most of these words, but no doubt I'll throw some into conversations.

I like "perichor" very much and will use it.

I knew "glabella", just as I know "philtrum" (it should be on the list!).

I used "badinage"  as the title of Sue's News article last week..

CLICK HERE to read the list and learn.

HAPPY BUTT

When my mother was in school, there was a girl named Agatha in her class. Mother told me that Agatha's parents had seen the name Agatha in a story, but had never heard it pronounced. They thought the pronunciation was "UH-GATH-UH". When the girl went to school a teacher told her that the proper pronunciation was AG-UH-THUH.

Mother also told me that when she was in school, she thought it would be nifty if she spelled her name as "Gladace" instead of "Gladys". Her teacher returned a paper to Mother with "Gladace" crossed out with a red pen and then ridiculed Mother in class and imperiously told her that Gladace was properly pronounced with a "long a". When my friend Bobbi heard that story, she immediately started calling my mother "Happy Butt" (GLAD ASS)! Mother actually cherished that nickname.

One time, when I was in school, we were reading aloud in class. When it was classmate Charlotte's turn, she read her section and the name "Leonard" was in it; Charlotte pronounced it "LEE-UH-NARD" and the name was contained three excruciating times in her reading. Surprisingly, the teacher did not correct her and none of the fellow students laughed, but to this day, whenever I hear the name Leonard I think of Charlotte's pronunciation.

As a teenager, it was common for girls whose names ended in "y" to change the "y" to "i" (such as "Sandi" and "Patti"; we even had a boy change Larry to "Larri"). I remember that it was newsworthy when Luci Baines Johnson changed the spelling of her name from "Lucy" to "Luci".

I wonder why parents give their children names with unusual spellings. It just makes the lives of the children difficult. My husband's grand niece is named Stephenie instead of the usual Stephanie or Stefanie. She said that she's never been able to find anything with her name on it and her name is never spelled "right"! I just gave her a charm this year with "Stephenie" on it. Her sister plans to name her baby "Ethen" instead of Ethan. Why give children strikes against them?

TWICE AS MUCH WIFE

I asked my nephew why my brother didn't REALLY retire; after all, he receives an Army pension, a pension from International Truck and Engine, and Social Security, has rental income property, and investments, and yet he still works full-time. My nephew said, "Retirement--half as much income--TWICE AS MUCH WIFE!" 

POKE

A friend has a grape arbor and I was looking forward to making grape jelly from the grapes. However, morning glories and three enormous poke plants overcame the grape vines and there were very few grapes produced this year. I told him, "I'm going to destroy those poke plants so they won't be there next year." He asked, "You mean they come back?" I said, "Yes, they're a damned weed, so of course, they come back."

At our house, we have just one poke plant and it is enough for us to have "Poke Salad" once a year.  Every year I pick a "mess" of greens in honor of my mother who was a great greens-picker. We always combined poke with dandelions, shepherd's sprouts, lamb's quarter, watercress, mustard, plantain, sorrel, and a "little bit of burdock".  Poke is a poisonous plant and Mother always warned that the greens had to be washed three times and the water discarded after each washing.  As a kid, I liked to PICK, but not to CLEAN. I think watercress is the prettiest plant and love to see it growing.

It is interesting that "poke salad" is not a salad at all, but cooked greens. The correct name is "POKE SALLET" (see the URBAN Dictionary article below. I think the Urban Dictionary is wrong, because we always said "Poke Salad" (not "Polk" or "Sallet") and I know for certain that Tony Joe White's masterpiece is Polk Salad Annie; but the Urban Dictionary Editor was probably just being clever with using Polk Sallet Annie. I had never heard of "sallet" until reading the article, but in talking to a friend who is from the South, she said they always say "sallet" but it's not pronounced in the "French" way.

poke sallet:
From THE URBAN DICTIONARY:

The term poke sallet is an old Southern term for the cooked young leaves of the poke weed. Sallet comes from Middle English and refers to a mess (another Old or Middle English term) of greens cooked until tender. The term Polk Salad is a gentrified way of referring to poke sallet, and I'm afraid it reflects our inferiority complex when it comes to standing up for our Southern terminology. We are not making a mush of Polk Salad; actually, we are being true to our English ancestors who settled here a long time ago.

Some folks around here always add a little molasses and fatback to the water when they cook their poke sallet. That's the traditional way.

Don't you just love Tony Joe White's song Polk Sallet  Annie? 

BADINAGE

Charolette Meeks is a West Virginia native and it has been a joy working with her during the last campaign and the current one and to count her as a friend.  Today, a visitor at our Headquarters asked where she "hailed from" because she couldn't place the "accent" and when Char said West Virginia, the visitor stated that she was VERY surprised because she didn't sound like she came from there. (I am constantly astounded that people do not realize how insulting commenting about another's "accent", as if WE don't have accents too)

Instinctively, I knew that Char and I both knew WHAT the person actually meant:  that she didn't sound like a "hillbilly".  Char laughed and said she was from "the Northern part", but that went totally over the person's head.  I decided to have a bit of fun, attacking stereotypes. I began singing Almost heaven........ and I mentioned the eloquent Senator Byrd with his "mellifluous tones" and said that Senator Rockefeller had a VERY Northern accent.  All of this badinage was wasted on that person, but it was fun for me and Char!

I said that Char sounded like my favorite teacher, Miss Digman, who came from Elkins, West Virginia.

Below is an article published in Sue's News in 2012.

          BEAUREGARD CLEOPATRA DIGMAN

In my article A CURSE AND A BLESSING, I mentioned my favorite teacher Miss Digman. (R.I.P., B. Cleo Digman, 1895-1983) I looked back on my articles and I have written about her numerous times. I had a special relationship with Miss Digman (CLICK HERE to see BLOG article SEMINAL INFLUENCES). Miss Digman came to teach in Ohio at age 75 because West Virginia had a mandatory retirement age! She insisted that "Cleopatra" be pronounced as "Cleo-pate-ra", with a long "a"!. Beauragard was her mother's maiden name.

Miss Digman was very influential to me and each time I hear T. S. Eliot's name I always recall her saying "Thomas STEARNS Eliot"; she was an admirer of his; I detested him because of his being an anti-Semite; Miss Digman said that didn't diminish his "greatness"; I countered with, "And Mussolini made the trains run on time!" Once, with a very patronizing tone, she said, "My dear, MISTER Eliot was the recipient of the Nobel Prize." I said, equally condescendingly, "AS was MISS Pearl S. Buck!" Miss Digman said, "TOUCHE!" She would preface nearly all of her private remarks to me with: "My dear..."

Miss Digman subscribed to The New Yorker and I felt honored that she would entrust me to devour them after she'd finished! [When I went to work as an adult, the first luxury I afforded myself were subscriptions to The New Yorker and The New Republic and I am still a subscriber to The New Yorker, but parted ways with The New Republic, canceling my subscription when they supported Bush's invasion of Iraq).] Muriel Spark's The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie was excerpted in the magazine; when I read it, I told Miss Digman that she was as "autocratic" as Miss Brodie. Miss Digman told me, "Oh, my dear, but I am neither charismatic nor a Fascist!" It was the first time I'd ever heard the word "charismatic" used, although it became commonplace the following year in describing President Kennedy. Miss Digman was nothing like Miss Brodie other than her total assuredness about her subjects and opinions. Years later, seeing the movie, I told Gerald, "Miss Brodie would never have allowed me to hate Thomas STEARNS Eliot as Miss Digman did!"

Last night, watching Jeopardy!, I thought of Miss Digman and it prompted this reminiscence. One of the correct questions was: "Who was Adlai Stevenson?" When I said, "Adlai EWING Stevenson the Second", Gerald gave me a look and I shrugged and said, "Miss Digman lives." Les asked, "The Second?" I answered, "He was named after his grandfather!" I don't understand the predilection of our saying the three names; Les says it's showing-off, but I know that it isn't; it's just MY THING! I always have to say "GAMALIEL" when referring to Harding, "BIRCHARD" with Hayes, and "ABRAM" with Garfield!

I worked with a man named Jeff Davis, who claimed to be a descendant of Jefferson Davis, and he fancied himself an expert on the "War Of Northern Aggression". He was a walking compendium of knowledge of his ancestor and his hero Stonewall Jackson. In our numerous discussions he would always refer to "Jefferson FINIS Davis" and "THOMAS JONATHAN Jackson" to which I would always counter with "Ulysses SIMPSON Grant". [I guess I will admit to a little showing-off that I know that Grant's original name was HIRAM Ulysses Grant but he was embarrassed by the HUG initials, and he changed it.]

BEAUREGARD CLEOPATRA DIGMAN would have appreciated the colloquy!

CROWDER PEAS

Although one of my readers wrote that I have too many food-themed articles, I must share this. 

Another reader e-mailed and asked if I'd heard of crowder beans because she'd bought a can at the store and had never heard of them. I told her that I used them in my 15-bean casserole. The 15-Bean Casserole started with a recipe called Calico Beans; that recipe called for 5 cans of different beans. I thought, "If five beans are good, six would be better!" Because we do make 15-Bean Soup, we started calling the Calico Beans the 15-Bean Casserole, but I usually use just 7 or 8 cans, depending on what might look interesting or unusual in the canned bean section at the store. Each time we make the Bean Casserole, we use different beans. All permutations have been good.

CALICO BEANS

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound bacon
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 large onion, chopped
1 can each:
pork 'n' beans
lima beans
kidney beans
black beans
garbanzo beans
crowder beans or black-eyed peas
cannellini beans

Crowder beans are rightly called "crowder peas" or "cow peas", rather than "crowder beans". They are similar to black-eyed peas. 

(CLICK HEREto see attached article Peas, please.)


In her e-mail, she wrote: "It is our job on earth to learn about every bean we can!"

PATHETIC PUNS

Mona Lisa, exacting revenge for my punning, sent a collection of PATHETIC PUNS:

You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish.

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger, then it hit me.


To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.

A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.

The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

The batteries were given out free of charge.


When a dentist and a manicurist married, they fought tooth and nail.

A will is a dead giveaway.

If you don't pay your exorcist, you can get repossessed.

With her marriage, she got a new name, and a dress.

Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.


Local Area Network in Australia is the LAN down under.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

When you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall. 

Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.



If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism it's your Count that votes.

When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Acupuncture is a jab well done.

REMEMBERING

"Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost, a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11." -President Barack Obama

SCALAWAGS

In watching coverage of Senate hearings, an older friend used the term "scalawag" and  asked if I'd ever heard the term.  I said, "Sure, my mother used to sing a song with the lyrics Is zat you, Myrtle, is zat you, Myrtle, I guess you better send that scalawag home.  My friend said he'd never heard that song.

I called my brothers and none of them recalled the song, although all knew the term scalawag and I asked how they knew the term. One asked, "Don't you remember on all those old westerns they used to call them scalawags?"; another asked, "They used to call pirates that, didn't they?" Another, the history expert, said, "Sure, that's what Southerners called the white southerners who supported the Union during Reconstruction." When I asked my husband, he started singing the song. Surprised, I asked, "How do you know that when my brothers don't?" He said, "Being with you and your mother for 50 years!"

Since my brothers didn't know the song, I thought that maybe it was one of those songs which my mother sang that I was never able to verify as being actual songs. With a number of my mother's "riffs", I had checked Alan Lomax's history of folk music to try to verify some of her unusual renderings. (Read about Alan Lomax in the attached article) Is Zat You, Myrtle? had the same kind of sing-songy sound as "Chattumentoogy" (one of Mother's riffs) and we had an aunt named Myrtle; I thought it might have been one of Mother's made-up songs. I didn't recall anything except the two lines and the tune.

However, it didn't require much research; all I had to do was to go to YouTube. Is Zat You, Myrtle? is a comic, corny, country and western song. Hear the YouTube rendition by The Carlisles and read about the songwriter Bill Carlisle.

Dictionary definition:  Scalawag: a person who behaves badly;  a reprobate or rascal.

A younger friend told me there's a pub in Columbus named Scalawags.

CLICK HERE to read the article about Alan Lomax

VOTER SUPRESSION

The following article is from 2012, but is pertinent today.  The deadline for Voter Registration is October 9, one month away.  Please register people to vote.  I hope people will vote in memory of my friend Charles.

LIE, BUY, and DENY

I have the Power Of Attorney for an older friend, Charles, who is in a nursing home. Recently, Charles had become very concerned about getting a State ID. I told him that although he no longer drove, his driver's license was still good for another year to use as identification. I told him it was a waste of $24.00 but he was insistent about getting a state ID. I took him to the BMV and the Clerk there told him he could wait another year as his driver's license was still good. Finally, he said, "I heard on television that they won't let me vote without a State ID." The Clerk and I both reassured him that he couldn't be denied his right to vote.

For years, I have encouraged him to cast absentee ballots but he wants to vote in person. I told him that I would take him to the Board of Election and he can still vote as he would if he were going to a precinct polling place, but he could do it early.

This year, after voting in the Primary, he told the people working at the Precinct Poll that he would never miss voting because he knew what it was like to be denied the right to vote. One of the poll workers looked stunned and asked how that had happened. Charles explained that he had grown up in the South where there were poll taxes. He went on to explain that although his father had the money to pay the poll tax, he was still denied the right to vote because they gave a literacy test which even a person holding a Ph.D in government could not have passed. Charles said that the reason he left the South was to be able to vote. Hearing this, one of the poll workers, whom I know to be a Republican, had tears in her eyes. She said, "I knew it happened in history but I never met anyone before who had been denied the right to vote." Charles said, "I will NEVER give up my right because too many people died to make sure I can vote." I was equally touched. I said, "Thank Lyndon Johnson for the Voting Rights Act of 1965!"

The reprehensible attempts of voter suppression by Kasich in our state, Scott in Florida, Perry in Texas, Walker in Wisconsin, and Haley in South Carolina, are all outmatched by the brazenness of the Leader of the Pennsylvania House who was quoted as saying that the state's voter ID bill is "gonna allow Romney to win the state." He didn't even try to hide the motive! It would be different if there were any proof of widespread attempts of voter fraud, but there hasn't been; any voter fraud has been miniscule in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and ZERO in South Carolina! It is just a calculated effort to deny people the right to vote. 

As my brother said, "If they can't LIE, or BUY an election, they'll DENY people the RIGHT to vote to guarantee a win." LIE, BUY, and DENY!

I remember my heroes Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman, and others who died because they were helping people fighting for their right to vote. It is indeed a sacred right. My all-time hero John Lewis spoke at the Democratic National Convention this year and in a rousing speech, said that the voter ID laws were "NOT RIGHT, NOT FAIR, AND NOT JUST!"  I'll add my brother's succinct "LIE, BUY, and DENY" to that. 

DORIAN

Recently I met a young woman named "Dorrian" and naturally assumed it was spelled "Dorian",  like Dorian Gray.  When I asked her if her parents had named her after the Oscar Wilde character, she said she'd never heard of the book.  How sad!  She said she would "have to check it out", but if she doesn't, what a loss for her.  Of course the next time I see her I shall ask IF she has.

One of my husband's high school teachers looks younger than several of his former students, including my husband. The teacher has been retired for a number of years and he stays very active. Last week, at an event, I introduced the teacher to some other friends and mentioned that he'd been Gerald's teacher and one of the people asked, incredulously, "How old were you when you started teaching?" The teacher, always witty and quick on the uptake, said, "16." Another asked, "When did you start to college?" He said, "Age 12." Although he frequently tells us not to call him MISTER, and to call him Don, none of us can/will do that. 

I said, "Oh, he has a picture turning old in his closet, don't you Mr. Gray?" Of course his last name is NOT Gray, but he said he appreciated the literary reference!

"You are a wonderful creation. You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know."--Oscar Wilde from The Picture Of Dorian Gray.

JOIE DE VIVRE, PANACHE, ELAN, BRIO, OR ESPRIT

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In an earlier article I wrote that Les said that if a movie was described as "poignant", he would definitely mark it off his list of "want-to-see" films. Yesterday, we received our latest Netflix rental and in the description, the phrase joie de vivre was used.

Les handed it to me and said, "Sounds like one of your picks because I'm certain you're the only one here afflicted with joie de vivre and I sure hope it's not contagious."

I said, "You liked Amelie and it had joie de vivre!"

He responded, "I was humoring you; and by the way, if they're described with panache, elan, brio or esprit, I'm sure I don't want to see them, either!"

Please read following article from The New York Times:

Helping a White Man Relearn Joie de Vivre

“Les Intouchables, having broken box office records in France, arrives in the United States with a faithfully translated title — The Intouchables — that is not quite English. American audiences looking for a suitable French name for this ingratiating comedy of cross-racial friendship might settle on Deja Vu since it is a story we have seen many times before.

To read the rest of the article, CLICK HERE.