GK, as to penguin joke: reminds me of an old Ajax Beer commercial done by Nichols and May ( or in their style) over 50 years ago. Thanks to YouTube, https://youtu.be/36WXE5rW0dA
Well, the sun just popped out of the ocean and into my eyeballs, so I'll have to make this short as I can no longer see the electronic screen in front of me. You are very kind, even to those who might not "get" your humor. Thank you.
GK, I've enjoyed reading my copy of your book, Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80. You made me laugh more than once, something rare in my life these days that I'm always searching for. You also inspired me to pick up my pen:
You wrote recently that you hope to reach your mother's age of 97 when she passed. So that would mean you have another 17 to go. My advice (which at 74 I have alot of trouble following) is to not fret and dwell on how old you've become, but rather on how many more sunrises you have to look forward to. I think that would make for a happier life for both of us. As for Tuba Skinny, those folks' extensive Youtube offerings got me through the panademic. They are so skilled and play with such joy. I finally saw them live last fall in Rockport MA. Just great. Thanks for giving them a shout out. All the Best, Jim O
Reading these exchanges today, GK, make me believe the world is better in its place than it once was. I like the way you respond to the negatives herein. I do know we need to accept one another, no matter wherever hangs their "starz upon thar's." Suess got it right. We'd do well to garner his common sensability, lose the dimming starz, accept each other as we are, and say a prayer for them. No, I don't fully understand the differences between our likes and loves. I do think we need to be OK with the latter. Keep up that temperate Keillor "Host-Posting."
Brilliant! Perhaps your "sincerity" will creep in with your "tolerance" one day. Who's to say? Whatever works for you, sir! I think there's a fable like that somewhere....
Aloha, GK (Portlander relaxing in Maui for a few weeks). I read your “Serenity at 70 Gaiety at 80” on the flight over and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am 65 - so things ahead to look forward too! As I await the arrival of Boom Town, I am reading “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” by Walter Isaacson. In it, he notes Franklin used a communication style that later was used by Twain and Keillor. I was pleased to see you mentioned in this work. Have you read it and did you use Franklin as a model? I think you got your style on your own from your Sanctified Bretheren upbringing and other life experiences - but fun to know you are in the company of Franklin.
From Page 95 of Isaacson’s book on Franklin in section describing Franklin’s writing in Poor Richard’s Almanack, “…helped to define what would become a dominant tradition in American folk humor: the naively wicked wit and homespun wisdom of down-home characters who seem to be charmingly innocent but are sharply pointed about the pretensions of the elite and the follies of everyday life. Poor Richard and other such characters ‘appear as disarming plain folk, the better to convey wicked insights,’ notes historian Alan Taylor. ‘A long line of humorists - from Davey Crockett and Mark Twain to Garrison Keillor - still rework prototypes created by Franklin.’”
John W. Mitchell's post brings up an issue that many of us who live in fairly urban areas seldom contemplate - "Where's a store when you need it?" I hadn't thought of that myself, until I spent half a year as a volunteer librarian in a rural monastery/seminary. I used to love going to Vespers in the early evenings. The monks were all robed in black. On their heads they wore the skufia - a black hat with black veils that went half-way down their backs. As they bent to kiss the dozen or more icons, they'd take off their hats, bend, kiss, stand up, put the hats on again, and move along to the next religious painting. With all the chanting, in a way it seemed almost like being in a colony of busy black ants. For an outsider, there was definitely an "Other-Worldly" element to the ritual. I felt as if I had landed on another planet - one that existed solely within the monastery walls.
Imagine my surprise when I pulled into the Walmart down in the valley, a dozen miles away from the monastery or more! What should I see but three black robed and veiled monks "Going Into Town!" Perhaps they'd be buying tape recorders to play the "Celebratory Mass in the Moscow Cathedral" that I had just finished cataloging that week. Who knows? It was a lesson for me in the sense that I had seen the "rural world" as isolated from "modern/urban" existence. Yet even cloistered monks sometimes felt the need of something that wasn't immediately available in their natural environment.
Garrison's last comment was his best one: when it comes to our youth, we ARE in good hands. Every time I see them my kids and their friends re-instil in me faith that things will get better. They're better, smarter, and in many respect (even allowing for lesser life experience) more moral than we were/are. I accept their advice and counsel in most (I emphasize; most) things.
This is a few weeks late, but the letter about the ashes reminded me of it. My Italian grandmother, who was born in Boston, but spent most of her life in Concord, MA, used to recite this poem to us:
Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust;
If God don't want you,
the Devil must.
She was a graduate of Concord High School, class of 1920 (I have her diploma), so she didn't actually speak that way. It was unusual for daughters of Italian immigrants to finish high school at that time.
I would not like this to be posted, but I did want to send you a note. Your essay on the nursing care you just received at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester is beautiful. But the attention they gave you might not be what regular people get at places like the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ, where a family member went and found there were no nursing aides and not much hands-on help from nurses; and it was made clear to her that when she had to go to the bathroom it was up to her husband to take her there and take care of her. Etc., Etc.
I ask pardon as I correct you, Garrison. The Amazon warehouse that unionized is on Staten Island. It's about as far from Upstate as you can get.
Thanks.
GK, as to penguin joke: reminds me of an old Ajax Beer commercial done by Nichols and May ( or in their style) over 50 years ago. Thanks to YouTube, https://youtu.be/36WXE5rW0dA
Good one. Never gets old, does it?
Well, the sun just popped out of the ocean and into my eyeballs, so I'll have to make this short as I can no longer see the electronic screen in front of me. You are very kind, even to those who might not "get" your humor. Thank you.
There’s a fellow named Garrison Keillor
Whose wisdom and wit is folklore
He speaks from the heart
It sets him apart
And reminds us just what we are here for
GK, I've enjoyed reading my copy of your book, Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80. You made me laugh more than once, something rare in my life these days that I'm always searching for. You also inspired me to pick up my pen:
You said risqué was okay,
But I’m old and I’m hot and blasé.
I can’t muster the gusto
Required to thrusto.
So we’ll just have to settle foreplay.
Lou Shilton
We saw Tuba Skinny here in Milwaukee and felt so good afterwards that we kissed right there in front of young people half our age!
You wrote recently that you hope to reach your mother's age of 97 when she passed. So that would mean you have another 17 to go. My advice (which at 74 I have alot of trouble following) is to not fret and dwell on how old you've become, but rather on how many more sunrises you have to look forward to. I think that would make for a happier life for both of us. As for Tuba Skinny, those folks' extensive Youtube offerings got me through the panademic. They are so skilled and play with such joy. I finally saw them live last fall in Rockport MA. Just great. Thanks for giving them a shout out. All the Best, Jim O
I fret about numerous things but old age isn't one of them.
Reading these exchanges today, GK, make me believe the world is better in its place than it once was. I like the way you respond to the negatives herein. I do know we need to accept one another, no matter wherever hangs their "starz upon thar's." Suess got it right. We'd do well to garner his common sensability, lose the dimming starz, accept each other as we are, and say a prayer for them. No, I don't fully understand the differences between our likes and loves. I do think we need to be OK with the latter. Keep up that temperate Keillor "Host-Posting."
I impersonate tolerance in hopes that eventually it'll become sincere.
Brilliant! Perhaps your "sincerity" will creep in with your "tolerance" one day. Who's to say? Whatever works for you, sir! I think there's a fable like that somewhere....
I found this on Google. It's for kids but it may work for us as well. Who knows? https://www.apa.org/monitor/mar02/pretend
It is what I pray for.
I love your plug for Tuba Skinny. They are wonderful. Louis Armstrong would be pleased.
God bless you a million times over.
Aloha, GK (Portlander relaxing in Maui for a few weeks). I read your “Serenity at 70 Gaiety at 80” on the flight over and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am 65 - so things ahead to look forward too! As I await the arrival of Boom Town, I am reading “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” by Walter Isaacson. In it, he notes Franklin used a communication style that later was used by Twain and Keillor. I was pleased to see you mentioned in this work. Have you read it and did you use Franklin as a model? I think you got your style on your own from your Sanctified Bretheren upbringing and other life experiences - but fun to know you are in the company of Franklin.
I'll have tto look up Franklin. I've only read his adages, I'm sorry to say.
From Page 95 of Isaacson’s book on Franklin in section describing Franklin’s writing in Poor Richard’s Almanack, “…helped to define what would become a dominant tradition in American folk humor: the naively wicked wit and homespun wisdom of down-home characters who seem to be charmingly innocent but are sharply pointed about the pretensions of the elite and the follies of everyday life. Poor Richard and other such characters ‘appear as disarming plain folk, the better to convey wicked insights,’ notes historian Alan Taylor. ‘A long line of humorists - from Davey Crockett and Mark Twain to Garrison Keillor - still rework prototypes created by Franklin.’”
John W. Mitchell's post brings up an issue that many of us who live in fairly urban areas seldom contemplate - "Where's a store when you need it?" I hadn't thought of that myself, until I spent half a year as a volunteer librarian in a rural monastery/seminary. I used to love going to Vespers in the early evenings. The monks were all robed in black. On their heads they wore the skufia - a black hat with black veils that went half-way down their backs. As they bent to kiss the dozen or more icons, they'd take off their hats, bend, kiss, stand up, put the hats on again, and move along to the next religious painting. With all the chanting, in a way it seemed almost like being in a colony of busy black ants. For an outsider, there was definitely an "Other-Worldly" element to the ritual. I felt as if I had landed on another planet - one that existed solely within the monastery walls.
Imagine my surprise when I pulled into the Walmart down in the valley, a dozen miles away from the monastery or more! What should I see but three black robed and veiled monks "Going Into Town!" Perhaps they'd be buying tape recorders to play the "Celebratory Mass in the Moscow Cathedral" that I had just finished cataloging that week. Who knows? It was a lesson for me in the sense that I had seen the "rural world" as isolated from "modern/urban" existence. Yet even cloistered monks sometimes felt the need of something that wasn't immediately available in their natural environment.
Garrison's last comment was his best one: when it comes to our youth, we ARE in good hands. Every time I see them my kids and their friends re-instil in me faith that things will get better. They're better, smarter, and in many respect (even allowing for lesser life experience) more moral than we were/are. I accept their advice and counsel in most (I emphasize; most) things.
"You’re too late to agree with me, Ron, since I am feeling otherwise now" 😂🤣
"After 50 years together, I knew that she was not asking for, and would not kindly hear, a list of methodologies." 😁🤣
This is a few weeks late, but the letter about the ashes reminded me of it. My Italian grandmother, who was born in Boston, but spent most of her life in Concord, MA, used to recite this poem to us:
Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust;
If God don't want you,
the Devil must.
She was a graduate of Concord High School, class of 1920 (I have her diploma), so she didn't actually speak that way. It was unusual for daughters of Italian immigrants to finish high school at that time.
I would not like this to be posted, but I did want to send you a note. Your essay on the nursing care you just received at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester is beautiful. But the attention they gave you might not be what regular people get at places like the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ, where a family member went and found there were no nursing aides and not much hands-on help from nurses; and it was made clear to her that when she had to go to the bathroom it was up to her husband to take her there and take care of her. Etc., Etc.