1.9 Bits and Pieces

According to my horoscope in this week’s edition of the Santa Fe Reporter by Rob Brezsny, my week will be infused with the metaphorical equivalent of hornet saliva.  Whatever the metaphorical equivalent is, hornet saliva itself is no metaphor; it is the ingredient in VAAM, the Japanese sports drink that Naoko Takahashi attributes her gold medal performance in the marathon in the 2000 Olympics.

I am always happy for a little energy boost, but I hope the metaphorical equivalent doesn’t mean I’ll be running any marathons.

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According to Peter Bruso, Mark Twain scholar, at Winston Churchill’s first public address in the United States, he was introduced by Mark Twain.

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My pal, Thomas Burchfield, whose whimsical blog, “A Curious Man” I enjoy (https://allevenson.wordpress.com/blogs-I-like/), observed recently that the Italian jokes he heard in a New York schoolyard were repeated as Polish jokes in Wisconsin, and Blonde jokes in California.  He further opines, “this leads to interesting notions about the mutability of ethnic humor, a subject

I’m sure has been explored by sifting academic minds.”

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In the post “What are the Odds?” posted here on September 18th, I mentioned a chance encounter, which took place in 1948, between my brother, Lew, and college classmate, Charles Cotter.  There has been no contact between them in the 60 years since college—until I received a voice mail from Cotter this morning.   Ain’t the internet grand.

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Sign near the entrance to the Boarding House General Store in Madrid, NM.  “Unattended children will be given a can of Red Bull and a coyote puppy.

2 Responses to 1.9 Bits and Pieces

  1. Dave L says:

    Didn’t know hornets could spit. And don’t dispair, of course you could run a marathon … if it’s 25 yards.There is magic but not on the internet; and arn’t we all ‘unattended childern’, once our parents are gone. Finally and most citical, I want a coyote puppy, though will pass on the bull, whatever its color. PS, there’s a lot of bull in your posts, thank you – and most are quite colorful.

  2. Thanks for the plug, there, AL. Say you wouldn’t happen to be in the Santa Fe/Southern Colorado neighborhood in mid-October, would you? Elizabaeth and I will be.

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