More Trivia
01. English Lit 101
I just finished reading The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) and was struck by a very perceptive paragraph, showing the "small town" mentality of certain citizens of this mini-metropolis:
"That Mr. Farfrae 'walked with that bankrupt Henchard's step-daughter, of all women" became a common topic in the town, the simple perambulating term being used hereabout to signify a wooing; and the nineteen superior young ladies of Casterbridge, who had each looked upon herself as the only woman capable of making the merchant Councilman happy, indignantly left off going to the church Farfrae attended, left off conscious mannerisms, left off putting him in their prayers at night amongst their blood relations; in short, reverted to their natural courses."
I believe that Masterpiece Theatre ran this story as a serial some time ago. I plan to try to get a copy for myself. It's a good "read" IMHO and is probably a good "watch."
02. Heavenly Body
Mars canals loving Percival Lowell obsessively searched the skies for a ninth planet. But this planet was instead found in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh. The name of the mysterious planet is Pluto, to honor Percival by its first two letters PL. Nowadays, Pluto is no longer considered a planet... but I still like to think it is.
03. A Dope
Allow me to repeat a story that I like. A Carroll County Maryland State Trooper stopped a young man for a moving violation and asked to see his license. The driver nervously emptied his pockets looking for it and a plastic bag fell out. On the front of the bag was the word "DOPE" printed in ink.
04. New PC
Today, I had an hour to kill and visited an Office Depot store in Reisterstown, Maryland. A Laptop/Tablet PC was on sale and I couldn't resist it. The laptop that I ran over and the laptop that I dropped from a great height are too big to keep by the kitchen table, and my cell phone set up is too small and the rest of these machines are used for Kindle purposes and Crossword Puzzle googling. This PC is just right to address the 100+ emails that come in every day.
The salesman tried to give me the "bait and switch" maneuver, but I was adamant and prevailed.
I asked when Staples would be taking over Office Depot.. he didn't have a clue about what I was talking about. Am I wrong about this.. I am a Staples stock holder and need to know.
05. Future Chemist?
Elaine's granddaughter, Lily, was the subject of a cell phone video today. She was filmed causing a Mount Vesuvius eruption in the kitchen sink, which expelled lots of green lava. Very interesting.
06. Another "Celebrity" brought up in the New Bedford, Massachusetts area
Albert Napoleon Ricard was born in Acushnet, Massachusetts and after graduating from Junior High School, made his way to New York and changed his name to Rene Ricard and became a kind of protégé of Andy Warhol. He also became a movie star, a poet, an art critic, and a painter. Warhol called him "the George Sanders of the Lower East Side, the Rex Reed of the art world." Some day I may get interested enough to read more about his life, but not right now.
Tonight, it is COLD in Westminster, Maryland. Wind chill is well below zero. I will have to let the faucets drip so the pipes don't freeze up. This year, it seems as though we are getting the weather here that I remember from my youth in Massachusetts. And.. now Massachusetts is getting much colder and snowier weather than when I was a kid. Global warming deniers will have a lot of ammunition this year.
Bye..... keep warm, y'all.
...................................................................
No comments:
Post a Comment