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“ENGLISH IS A RICH LANGUAGE” – (SVEN OF UMEǺ, CIRCA 1975)
Umeå is an important Swedish port on the upper reaches of the Baltic Sea. The pronunciation of its name has always been in doubt for those of us who do not speak Swedish. Some English speakers call it Oomea while others refer to it as Youmea. This is quite understandable in that Swen of Umeå…
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GO SPERMIES!
As I approach the centennial of my birth, one would think that mellowness would settle around me. That is not the case as sharp elbows and abrasiveness still abound within my soul. It was in one of these moods of contrariness that I began to think of religion in my home town of St. Louis.…
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A FEW FOND MEMORIES OF BLONDIE
When Harry Livermore has something to say, it is usually worth listening to. Harry is older than I am and he has a degree from Grinnell College in Iowa. He is a consummate mid-Westerner whom I met on Mother’s Day, 1952. Harry was my boss in Kansas City as well as in Chicago. But more…
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EZ-REEE’S SILVER DOLLAR JUBILEE
From the year 1776, the United States depended on the United States Army (USA) to fight its battles. The Army fought in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and in the First World War and acquitted itself very well. However, shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Army brass determined…
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A FURTHER MEMORY OF BLONDIE
A few weeks back, I produced an essay called “Memories of Blondie” which had to do with my thoughts about my older daughter. It seemed to be well received, so I thought one more memory would be in order. Blondie has a sister who is three years younger than she is. Her name is Suzanne.…
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THAT ONE SO HIGH SHOULD FALL SO LOW
This humble essay has spent a longer time in gestation than normal. The longer pregnancy is brought about by the fact that it deals with human failures. And secondly, some of the characters in the essay are less than glorious. No one likes to read about failures; they like to read about cuddly dogs and…
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ARMY SERIAL NUMBER (ASN) 17077613
If one were inclined to study a map of the United States, he would discover that in the middle Western part, there is a river that flows from the north and winds up in New Orleans. That of course is the mighty Mississippi, which was celebrated in 1927 by Jerome Kern’s production of Showboat. In…
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WHISKERS
During the 2004 and 2005 major league baseball seasons, center field on the Boston Red Sox was patrolled by a fellow named John Damon. During those two seasons, Damon declined to cut his hair and he also declined to shave. When he batted, the batting helmet would often squirt upwards because of the pressure exerted…
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THE THIRD RAIL SQUARED
When someone speaking to me works the phrase “critical mass” into a sentence, this illiterate mangler of words tends to believe that there is a degree of condescension in the conversation. It is much like a former AT&T colleague using the phrase “pro-active.” My impulse was to say, “What the hell does that mean?” But…