“They saw their injured country's woe;
The flaming town, the wasted field;
Then rushed to meet the insulting foe;
They took the spear, - but left the shield.”
―Philip Freneau
.
And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again?
Archilochus
Well, sir, I'm wiped out today, as I expected I'd be, but yesterday was pleasant -- beautiful sunny, clear weather, beautiful beachfront setting, acceptable-if-not-excellent food, and decent-if-not-exactly scintillating company.
I hope you had an even better time with family, et al. than I did with my makeshift social arrangements.
Funny! I really don't mind being alone these days, but when someone is kind enough to offer an alternative, it would be unkind not to accept the offer as graciously as possible.
Alice's Restaurant is oddly appropriate for the experience I had yesterday. Thanksgiving dinner turned out to be an enormous buffet with nearly everything you can think of set out in chafing dishes with platters and bowls of salads and raw seafood, etc.
Actually, I had to perform some last minute arrangements of my own on Thursday, as my daughter-in-law, who was hosting this year's affair, became ill. Needless to say, the Mrs. and I ended up at a local German restaurant, and were served a traditional turkey dinner with sauerkraut on the side in a pleasant, albeit "European", atmosphere.
And yes, thank goodness for kind-hearted friends, who willingly share their social calendars with us. It's so much more enjoyable to share a meal in pleasant company than to eat alone.
And I must apologize for being such a "bore" at your blog with RN. In many ways, we are far too alike. And I do hope that your patience with me continues, for I'm afraid that I have become "incorrigible" over the years. I don't seem to be able to hold my tongue any more.
My patience -- with you -- may well be inexhaustible, FJ. Too many others, who shall remain nameless, often cause my temper to fray at the edges and start to unravel.
I too tend to want to press a point when I "know" I am right, but I have learned to accept that my occasional flashes of absolute certainty rarely impress anyone but myself. Once I realize a case is hopeless these days, I prefer to withdraw, and save my flagging energies for a time when they might be put to better use.
Please forgive my schoolmasterish deportment which takes over at times when I see things spinning out-of-control. But then they are ALWAYS out-of-control, aren't they? I should be used to it by now.
The rare exceptions seem to be those times when sensitive performers give brilliant, energizing, inspiring accounts of their material -- be it instrumental music, drama or really good writing.
As I see it, great Art -- Inventiveness and great Understanding and Mastery of Mathematics and Scientific Principles -- are all we have to prove that life is more than the moral equivalent of pushing a peanut uphill with one's nose -- while crawling naked over thistles, stones and gravel.
Dining at a German Restaurant sounds delightful. I didn't know the martinets who presume to determine what is and is not good for our health hadn't already closed them all down as a menace to Public Health.
I love good German food. It was a sad day for me -- and for my hometown -- when Luchow's closed its doors forever some years ago. Also, there were several excellent German eating establishments we loved in the suburbs where I was raised. Alas! All have disappeared in the last twenty-to-twenty-five years.
Nothing like it at all where I live now.
I am sorry about your daughter-in-law, but it sounds as though you did all right for yourselves, even so. BRAVO!
I afraid that you mistake my own profound dislike for the purveyor's of "certainty", for my own. I fully admit that I know "nothing". The point of my argument is usually to point out the limits of "the other's" knowledge, and its' need for constant supplementation and revision. Especially when said knowledge hides behind a thoughtless veil of ideology, that has little to do with truth, and everything to do with maintaining the delicate balance of powers currently inherent in our present state of social relations.
And I do appreciate a artful performance as well... although I must admit that I have a bias towards those which are both novel (as in a "variation") AND competently executed.
4 comments:
Well, sir, I'm wiped out today, as I expected I'd be, but yesterday was pleasant -- beautiful sunny, clear weather, beautiful beachfront setting, acceptable-if-not-excellent food, and decent-if-not-exactly scintillating company.
I hope you had an even better time with family, et al. than I did with my makeshift social arrangements.
Funny! I really don't mind being alone these days, but when someone is kind enough to offer an alternative, it would be unkind not to accept the offer as graciously as possible.
Alice's Restaurant is oddly appropriate for the experience I had yesterday. Thanksgiving dinner turned out to be an enormous buffet with nearly everything you can think of set out in chafing dishes with platters and bowls of salads and raw seafood, etc.
HAPPY SEASON! ;-)
Actually, I had to perform some last minute arrangements of my own on Thursday, as my daughter-in-law, who was hosting this year's affair, became ill. Needless to say, the Mrs. and I ended up at a local German restaurant, and were served a traditional turkey dinner with sauerkraut on the side in a pleasant, albeit "European", atmosphere.
And yes, thank goodness for kind-hearted friends, who willingly share their social calendars with us. It's so much more enjoyable to share a meal in pleasant company than to eat alone.
And I must apologize for being such a "bore" at your blog with RN. In many ways, we are far too alike. And I do hope that your patience with me continues, for I'm afraid that I have become "incorrigible" over the years. I don't seem to be able to hold my tongue any more.
Happy Season, FreeThinke!
My patience -- with you -- may well be inexhaustible, FJ. Too many others, who shall remain nameless, often cause my temper to fray at the edges and start to unravel.
I too tend to want to press a point when I "know" I am right, but I have learned to accept that my occasional flashes of absolute certainty rarely impress anyone but myself. Once I realize a case is hopeless these days, I prefer to withdraw, and save my flagging energies for a time when they might be put to better use.
Please forgive my schoolmasterish deportment which takes over at times when I see things spinning out-of-control. But then they are ALWAYS out-of-control, aren't they? I should be used to it by now.
The rare exceptions seem to be those times when sensitive performers give brilliant, energizing, inspiring accounts of their material -- be it instrumental music, drama or really good writing.
As I see it, great Art -- Inventiveness and great Understanding and Mastery of Mathematics and Scientific Principles -- are all we have to prove that life is more than the moral equivalent of pushing a peanut uphill with one's nose -- while crawling naked over thistles, stones and gravel.
Dining at a German Restaurant sounds delightful. I didn't know the martinets who presume to determine what is and is not good for our health hadn't already closed them all down as a menace to Public Health.
I love good German food. It was a sad day for me -- and for my hometown -- when Luchow's closed its doors forever some years ago. Also, there were several excellent German eating establishments we loved in the suburbs where I was raised. Alas! All have disappeared in the last twenty-to-twenty-five years.
Nothing like it at all where I live now.
I am sorry about your daughter-in-law, but it sounds as though you did all right for yourselves, even so. BRAVO!
I afraid that you mistake my own profound dislike for the purveyor's of "certainty", for my own. I fully admit that I know "nothing". The point of my argument is usually to point out the limits of "the other's" knowledge, and its' need for constant supplementation and revision. Especially when said knowledge hides behind a thoughtless veil of ideology, that has little to do with truth, and everything to do with maintaining the delicate balance of powers currently inherent in our present state of social relations.
And I do appreciate a artful performance as well... although I must admit that I have a bias towards those which are both novel (as in a "variation") AND competently executed.
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