After scanning the day’s headlines with that omnipresent sense of fear and dread, reading your Father’s Day column elicited laughter and appreciation for your ever-sharp wit and way with words. We appreciate you, Garrison.
Good one, Garrison. Btw, I read your poem on fatherhood from your poetry book to my wife on Father’s Day and got into trouble with it. I think it was the happy sperm singing “O nothin’ could be finer than to swim up a vagina!” that did it. I guess one doesn’t sing about such things on The Lord’s Day. But why not? He’s the guy who invented it all. https://themjkxn.substack.com/p/happy-fathers-day
But while He might have invented it, if we’re to believe the standard accounts of the birth of His son, He had no personal experience of the phenomenon…
A quibble about the disciples: Peter had a mother-in-law whom Jesus healed. There must have been a wife there somewhere and who knows: she may have smelled like cinnamon!
Being a father is a complicated job. There are many responsibilities that come under the title of "Dad". Your children knew who you were and understood the pressures and problems that you handled in your career. You supported them and their mom and you never denounce them as yours. Being an entertainer is a rough job, it's all on you to sell yourself to the public. I'm sure your kids think of you as their dad as you thought about your father.
I asked an AI Chat bot about your fathering skills and this is what this was it's response. "Based on Garrison Keillor's own reflections, it appears he has mixed feelings about his paternal skills. However, it's important to note that self-assessment can often be overly critical. Here's what we can gather about Keillor's fathering:
He acknowledges his wife as an excellent mother, showing his appreciation for her parenting skills.
Keillor admits to feeling inadequate as a father, pleading the Fifth when it comes to his fatherhood.
He recognizes the importance of a child having at least one excellent parent, suggesting that his wife's parenting may have compensated for his perceived shortcomings.
Keillor has maintained a relationship with his children into their adulthood, as evidenced by his mention of his son's 40th birthday and his 11-year-old daughter.
He expresses hope for his daughter's future, wanting her to have a strong sense of belonging, which shows his concern for her well-being.
While Keillor may not rate his paternal skills highly, his reflections demonstrate self-awareness and a genuine care for his children's welfare. It's worth noting that his career as a writer and performer may have influenced his parenting style, as he mentions "reaching out to a larger family through my writing and performances". This suggests that he may have found alternative ways to connect with and nurture his children through his work and storytelling abilities."
I always "relate," as the kids say, with just about everything you share with us devoted readers. But you really should give Moby Dick a try. You won't regret it.
I used to read through Those Books Attributed to Solomon regularly, rigorously, religiously, but never got the sequence/perspective until today as you laid it out: enticement, fatherly caution against enticement, weariness of all that. Twenty more years and it might have dawned on me on my own, but I’m a slow learner.
Happy Father’s Day!
P.S. For all his loveliness, Debussy is depressing, but listen between the lines; Ravel and Satie were great humorists.
"Nothing good happens after midnight..." How right you are, sir.
I once had an anthropology professor who said something to the effect: "If you're going to ATMs after midnight then you've got a problem." How right he was. And how stupid I was!
A commentator has asserted that Melville's "Moby Dick" was a reaction to what Melville considered the reckless expansion of The United States at that time, the 1840s. President Polk, an ardent believer in the Monroe Doctrine -- which was actually formulated by President Adam's Secretary of State James Monroe, -- had instigated the war with Mexico on a pretext knowing full well that Mexico could not even begin to defend it's north-west territories (Which became our New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado ) And a similar pretext was used to take California.
According to this commentator Ahab was equivalent to President Polk (or the United States embodied as Polk-Ahab) illegally usurping vast amounts of land from its weaker neighbor, Mexico. As those who have waded through the deep and turgid waters of "Moby Dick" recall Ahab took the entire ship -- The Pequod -- down with himself. Only Ishmeal, the teller of the tale, survived.
Was Melville right? Is the Pequod (the USA) going down? Doomed to perdition by its own reckless Ahab (or series of Ahabs since Polk passed into history)? Perhaps time will tell. What is that talk about an unsustainable 31 trillion dollar debt? Have you bought that, "Five Easy Lessons to Mastering Mandarin Chinese" book yet, Mr. K.? I have.
It is probably something that is not really my business, not even my beeswax, but Mr. Keillor speaks of three children in this Father's Day essay. I thought he has always mentioned two children - an adult son, Jason, as I recall from mention of his son's working on the Prairie Home Companion productions in some way and his name occurring in the credits, and a daughter who presumably is also an adult now, whose arrival was noted in some of the PHC performances way back when. No?
Good morning Garrison. You can be my father any day. rr
After scanning the day’s headlines with that omnipresent sense of fear and dread, reading your Father’s Day column elicited laughter and appreciation for your ever-sharp wit and way with words. We appreciate you, Garrison.
Good one, Garrison. Btw, I read your poem on fatherhood from your poetry book to my wife on Father’s Day and got into trouble with it. I think it was the happy sperm singing “O nothin’ could be finer than to swim up a vagina!” that did it. I guess one doesn’t sing about such things on The Lord’s Day. But why not? He’s the guy who invented it all. https://themjkxn.substack.com/p/happy-fathers-day
But while He might have invented it, if we’re to believe the standard accounts of the birth of His son, He had no personal experience of the phenomenon…
Good morning
1] “Cast your bread upon the waters and you shall find it after many days.”
Yeah, I never got that one either.
2] About Debussy: As much as I enjoy his orchestral work, I admit that they can be a bit over the top.
But do you know his piano works?
For example his Preludes. Really, truly lovely. Quite a different kettle of fish.
I have put Debussy's piano preludes on my shopping list.
Let us know what you think.
(If I might take this a step further, I especially like Walter Gieseking’s recording of the complete piano works of Debussy.)
A quibble about the disciples: Peter had a mother-in-law whom Jesus healed. There must have been a wife there somewhere and who knows: she may have smelled like cinnamon!
I stand corrected.
Being a father is a complicated job. There are many responsibilities that come under the title of "Dad". Your children knew who you were and understood the pressures and problems that you handled in your career. You supported them and their mom and you never denounce them as yours. Being an entertainer is a rough job, it's all on you to sell yourself to the public. I'm sure your kids think of you as their dad as you thought about your father.
I asked an AI Chat bot about your fathering skills and this is what this was it's response. "Based on Garrison Keillor's own reflections, it appears he has mixed feelings about his paternal skills. However, it's important to note that self-assessment can often be overly critical. Here's what we can gather about Keillor's fathering:
He acknowledges his wife as an excellent mother, showing his appreciation for her parenting skills.
Keillor admits to feeling inadequate as a father, pleading the Fifth when it comes to his fatherhood.
He recognizes the importance of a child having at least one excellent parent, suggesting that his wife's parenting may have compensated for his perceived shortcomings.
Keillor has maintained a relationship with his children into their adulthood, as evidenced by his mention of his son's 40th birthday and his 11-year-old daughter.
He expresses hope for his daughter's future, wanting her to have a strong sense of belonging, which shows his concern for her well-being.
While Keillor may not rate his paternal skills highly, his reflections demonstrate self-awareness and a genuine care for his children's welfare. It's worth noting that his career as a writer and performer may have influenced his parenting style, as he mentions "reaching out to a larger family through my writing and performances". This suggests that he may have found alternative ways to connect with and nurture his children through his work and storytelling abilities."
I always "relate," as the kids say, with just about everything you share with us devoted readers. But you really should give Moby Dick a try. You won't regret it.
Love the after midnight comment - my Dad used that on me too! He was right…
Jesus' celibate disciples? Peter had a mother-in-law....
That could mean stepmother, according to Merriam-Webster.
I used to read through Those Books Attributed to Solomon regularly, rigorously, religiously, but never got the sequence/perspective until today as you laid it out: enticement, fatherly caution against enticement, weariness of all that. Twenty more years and it might have dawned on me on my own, but I’m a slow learner.
Happy Father’s Day!
P.S. For all his loveliness, Debussy is depressing, but listen between the lines; Ravel and Satie were great humorists.
"Nothing good happens after midnight..." How right you are, sir.
I once had an anthropology professor who said something to the effect: "If you're going to ATMs after midnight then you've got a problem." How right he was. And how stupid I was!
A commentator has asserted that Melville's "Moby Dick" was a reaction to what Melville considered the reckless expansion of The United States at that time, the 1840s. President Polk, an ardent believer in the Monroe Doctrine -- which was actually formulated by President Adam's Secretary of State James Monroe, -- had instigated the war with Mexico on a pretext knowing full well that Mexico could not even begin to defend it's north-west territories (Which became our New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado ) And a similar pretext was used to take California.
According to this commentator Ahab was equivalent to President Polk (or the United States embodied as Polk-Ahab) illegally usurping vast amounts of land from its weaker neighbor, Mexico. As those who have waded through the deep and turgid waters of "Moby Dick" recall Ahab took the entire ship -- The Pequod -- down with himself. Only Ishmeal, the teller of the tale, survived.
Was Melville right? Is the Pequod (the USA) going down? Doomed to perdition by its own reckless Ahab (or series of Ahabs since Polk passed into history)? Perhaps time will tell. What is that talk about an unsustainable 31 trillion dollar debt? Have you bought that, "Five Easy Lessons to Mastering Mandarin Chinese" book yet, Mr. K.? I have.
Appreciated this, but Since Jesus healed Peter's Mother-in-law, he probably had a wife, at least at one time
It is probably something that is not really my business, not even my beeswax, but Mr. Keillor speaks of three children in this Father's Day essay. I thought he has always mentioned two children - an adult son, Jason, as I recall from mention of his son's working on the Prairie Home Companion productions in some way and his name occurring in the credits, and a daughter who presumably is also an adult now, whose arrival was noted in some of the PHC performances way back when. No?
I included my stepdaughter. which makes three.