Yesterday, over at The Writer's Almanac, I read a fine poem titled On the Death of a Colleague by Stephen Dunn. It brought to my mind another poet of my acquaintance and the ravages Alcoholic Drink can wreak upon the human mind... and on the human liver. How prone to unthinking self-abuse we all are -- how weak we humans are -- each in our own way, each in our own allotted time. I hope that a goodly number of readers will click on over and read the poem.
On the Death of a Colleague
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I was told a while back that I lack consistency... well, not in those words exactly, but that's what he meant. I think. And, in a way, it's true, of course. Some of my pronouncements, both in face-to-face speech and written here in the blog are not always consistent with what I have pointed out or expounded on previously.
Why is that?
Well, I'm not quite sure. The only excuse I can provide is that I do, at times, change my mind. I may see a thing in one way at one particular time, and view the same subject differently at another time.
Or else I am getting senile (extremely forgetful) as I age.
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TRIVIA
'Stewardesses' is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
On this day, June 25 in 1876, Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeated the U.S. Army troops of Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana's Little Bighorn River.
The Battle of Little Bighorn -- also called Custer's Last Stand -- marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. The gruesome fate of Custer and his men outraged many white Americans and confirmed their image of the Indians as wild and bloodthirsty. Meanwhile, the U.S. government increased its efforts to subdue the tribes. Within five years, almost all of the Sioux and Cheyenne would be confined to reservations.
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WORD FOR TODAY
inconsistent
adjective
- not staying the same throughout; having self-contradictory elements.
- acting at variance with one's own principles or former conduct.
synonyms
contradictory - conflicting
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair) was an English novelist and journalist. His work is marked by clarity, intelligence and wit, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and commitment to democratic socialism.
Considered perhaps the 20th century's best chronicler of English culture, Orwell wrote literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. He is best known for the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945), which together have sold more copies than any two books by any other 20th-century author.
In 2008, The Times ranked him second on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Carly Elisabeth Simon
(born June 25, 1945)
(born June 25, 1945)
Carly Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 hits include "Anticipation", "You're So Vain", "Nobody Does It Better", and "Coming Around Again".
Her 1988 hit "Let the River Run" was the first song in history to win a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for a song both written and performed by a single artist. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "You're So Vain" in 2004, and awarded the ASCAP Founders Award in 2012.
James Carter "Jimmie" Walker
(born June 25, 1947)
(born June 25, 1947)
Jimmie Walker is an American actor and stand-up comedian, known for portraying J.J. Evans on the television series Good Times, which ran from 1974 to 1979. While on the show, Walker's character was known for the catchphrase "Dy-no-mite!", which he also used in his mid-1970s TV commercial for a Panasonic line of cassette and 8-track tape players.
June Lockhart
(born June 25, 1925)
(born June 25, 1925)
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr. Janet Craig on the CBS television sitcom Petticoat Junction (1968–70).
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
NASA TV
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