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A PAIR OF SABBATH THOUGHTS
This dictation is taking place on Sunday, September 2nd, which happens to be a Sabbath in the Christian faith. And so it is that I have a pair of Sabbath thoughts. One is of recent vintage and the other reaches back to, I believe, 1958. Let us take the one of most recent vintage. Last…
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ARGUENDO
The title for this essay is Arguendo. It is a Latin phrase. It means for the sake of argument. This is not an essay about Latin phrases but rather it is an essay about music. Arguendo, I would contend that the best poetry is written by the lyricists who write the words to the music…
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THE SCHWA
Late in 1945, the American Army very reluctantly agreed to my obtaining an honorable discharge. I was a simple Buck Sergeant which means that I had no place at the table with Generals and Admirals. But the war was over and American women loudly proclaimed that they wanted their sons, husbands, their boyfriends, and their…
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WHY DO I CRY?
This essay is being dictated on the Friday evening of September 14. At the moment, I am in a thoroughly somber mood. The somber mood comes from having listened to the broadcast from Andrews Air Force Base, which was the site of ceremonies honoring the four dead Americans who perished recently in Libya. If I…
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CAN YOU READ THIS UPSIDE DOWN?
[Note from Kevin — This is the continuation of this essay, entitled Setting a Nose Alight, about Pop’s time with the labor union. It had these following two lines under the title:] from Charles L. Brown Former Chairman of the Board of AT&T, Circa 1956 Earlier this year, one of my daughters pointed out…
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EXPECTATIONS
As nearly everyone in my circle of society friends knows, I will be celebrating my 90th birthday early in August. In the last several months, my body has told me that I am not half the man that I used to be. I don’t look forward, for example, to long walks but rather, the shorter…
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STUDS AND SERVICING
I do not pretend to be an expert in the horse race industry in this country. As I have reported before, I have only been to two horse races in my life and they were, more than anything else, boring. Perhaps if I were a bettor, I would be a bit more interested. But I…
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ROLL, JORDAN, ROLL
Contemplating the essay that I am about to write, I have come to the conclusion that more than anything, it is about curiosity. The curiosity is my own. For many years, I have wondered about the Jordan River and whether or not it really rolled. But there are some things to take care of before…
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ANOTHER ROUND WITH A POLYGAMY OF ESSAYETTES
You will recall that these are individual subjects that have absolutely no relationship to each other. With that forewarning, we will begin a new venture into the world of polygamy which I am determined to rescue from the Mormon Church. First there is the bladder scanner. This subject is considered by some to be…
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PRESIDENT DE GAULLE, S’IL VOUS PLAÎT PASSEZ-MOI LES RADIS
Even those who are unschooled in the French language may discern that this essay is about radishes and the first President of the Fifth Republic of France, Charles de Gaulle. I do not pretend to be an expert in the affairs of the Republic of France but I believe that it is appropriate for me…