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In The Writer's Almanac I read that Robert Goddard received a grant from the Smithsonian Institution that enabled him to do research and publish a paper on "A Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes" in 1920. In the paper, he speculated that rockets could be used to reach the moon. The New York Times heard about his paper and ridiculed him. He went from being a relative nobody to a laughingstock literally overnight. But he persisted, and on this date, March 16, 1926, he completed the first successful launch of his liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts.
Perseverance sometimes conquers all sorts of interference from outside forces, or so it seems to me. But persistence in the ever-sneering face of self-deprecation is surely the most difficult of obstacles to overcome.
God! I am such a weakling. Such a whining, shiftless, incompetent, wastrel. A quitter. Gutless.
A writer? Me? Hah!
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Word For Today
execrable [ek-si-kruh-buhl]
Adjective
Extremely bad or unpleasant.
Synonyms:
abominable - odious - loathsome - abhorrent - detestable
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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Born March 16, 1906Died on Feb 24, 1998
One evening back in the 1960s (I think it was) while strolling through the coffee shop at Las Vegas's The Mint casino, I spied Henny Youngman seated at a large table filled with drinks, surrounded of course by a bevy of beautiful female casino employees. I paused and eavesdropped on the conversation (monologue) for a minute or so. Sure enough he was easily as funny as he always had been on TV. And all of his jokes were snappy repetitions of the old reliables, such as "Take my wife... please!"
Note: I deleted the word "babes" and inserted "female casino employees" so as not to ruffle the feathers of overly sensitive feminists. As if I had any feminist (or any female) readers.
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George Will's latest Washington Post column reveals a possible halt to taxpayer funding of union salaries. Of course, if you do not care for the Washington Post or for George Will's opinions, you can just ignore it. But it is somewhat informative, in my questionably humble opinion.
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While admiring some of Dmitrii Lezine's beautiful photography I ran across the following phrase, "...because I thought it was cool and unique in its own way."
Since the maddeningly ubiquitous misuse of the word unique (which means one of a kind) is such a fiercely long-held obsession of mine, especially when adding a modifier of degree such as very unique (how can something be very one of a kind?) I was immediately driven to question the expression unique in its own way. So I hastened to get the opinions of others I trust for the question: Is unique in its own way grammatically correct?
Here is the most convincing response I received:
"Consider a stack of brand new one dollar bills. They all differ, but only by serial number. They are all unique in the same way.
"Now let Hanna von Goeler have one of the bills to work her magic on, converting the banal slip of linen into a bespoke art piece.
"Is this bill more unique than before? No, unique is unique... but in contrast to the rest of the stack, it is now unique in its own way."
That response was from the owner of Quarkscrew and in light of that clear and lucid explanation, I now believe unique in its own way is grammatically correct.
So, 'nuff said.
By the way, one of Dmitrii's many compelling photos caught me eye.
Seattle At Night
(Click photo for larger view)
A truly magnificent sight to see is that striking photograph.
Don't you agree?
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For NASA, space is still a high priority.
--Dan Quayle
Note:
The quote was originally meant as ridicule.
But it's not so ludicrous these days - right?
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