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JOHN EAMONN THE EIGHTH
This week there is a ground-breaking aspect to this essay in that it is being dictated before breakfast. Of the nearly 700 essays that I have written, this is the first one to be dictated without anything in my stomach. More than anything else, this essay is to commemorate the birthday party that was given…
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MITT AND WILLIE
The principal characters in this essay are Mitt Romney, the Republican aspirant to the presidency of the United States, and a fellow called Willie Nelson, who is a singer of folk songs. My memory is that Willie Nelson is perilously close to being 80 years of age. The knock on Mitt Romney is that he…
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CHRISTIAN MINGLE
I rarely listen to commercials broadcast on television. One recently caught my attention. The title is “Christian Mingle.” Under ordinary circumstances, when I have some curiosity about a commercial, I ask the sponsors of the commercial for some detail. In this case, I do not desire to get involved with Christian Mingle because I suspect…
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LEARNING TO DANCE
Earlier today I dictated a small essay having to do with Polk salad. I identified that as an essay which had a nostalgic ring to it. It involved my mother and her habit of gathering the Polk weed or vegetable in the early springtime. I was raised largely as an only child. All my siblings…
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COPENHAGEN SNUFF
At the moment, I am involved with this essay on the horns of a modest dilemma. The dilemma has to do with the Republican Party whose candidate in the year 2012 in all likelihood will be Mitt Romney. As it turns out Mitt Romney is a Mormon. This may be hard to be believed in…
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KEEPERS OF BROTHERS
Dear Brothers and Sisters: The scriptural text for this morning’s sermon is taken from Genesis 4 verses 8 and 9. These verses say as follows: And Cain talked with Abel, his brother. It came to pass when they were in the field; Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him. The Lord said…
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WHILE I AM HERE
This is a two part essay. In the beginning it refers to While I am Here. Finally, there is a comment about When I am Gone. Within a month my 90th birthday will occur. I do not look forward to it with a sense of exhilaration nor do I look forward to that event with…
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THE INSTINCTS OF THE HERD
[NOTE: I’m breaking form and publishing order here because I felt this essay serves as a nice introduction to Pop’s thoughts on the Republican National Convention. This essay is almost exactly 1 year old; the message is still relevant. Hopefully this is not confusing. -Kevin] Under ordinary circumstances, I am not involved with Republican…
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KNIVES, EVERYDAY AND SUNDAY
In this essay I am going to be talking only about pocket knives, as distinguish from knives that are meant to kill. I suspect that this again is an exercise in nostalgia. Looking back more than 70 or 75 years ago, there was a custom having to do with knives. My father, for example, would…