hope everlasting peace bliss except inventor of the telephone
In 1890, the Editors or somebody at the New York Evening World, reached out to some of the literary notables of the time, Oliver Wendall Holmes, James Whitcomb Riley and others, requesting a thought or two about Christmas.
The responses were printed in the Newspaper on Christmas Day, 1890 under the slug lines:
GREETING TO ALL
Sweet Singers Send Words of Cheer to the People
Christmas Sentiments from Men and Women of Renown
Gathering of Well-Wishers from All Over the Land.
Mark Twain sent in this response.
“It is my heart-warm and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us –
the high,
the low,
the rich,
the poor,
the admired,
the despised,
the loved,
the hated,
the civilized,
the savage –
may-eventually be gathered together in heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss-
But a state department cable dated 9 December sent to all US diplomatic posts said that typography shapes the professionalism of an official document and Calibri is informal compared to serif typefaces.
“To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface,” the cable said.
“This formatting standard aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department’s responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications,” it added.
The change to Calibri in 2023 was recommended by diversity and disability groups in the US government, according to US media reports. Some studies have suggested that sans-serif fonts, such as Calibri, are easier to read for those with certain visual disabilities.
A friend recently posted a screed by someone who listed all of the reasons that someone should not support the current administration and that feller in the Oval Office.
At the end, though, this someone said despite on in spite of all those reasons, this someone whole heartedly and devotedly, supported that feller in the Oval Office because this someone felt that, finally, the feller in the Oval Office ‘fought for the someone’s in this world.‘
For myself, I find it difficult to identify with any of the fights that feller is having but there you are.
That fight, I guess, includes the efforts to restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department by returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface.
This formatting standard aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department’s responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications.
I am reminded of the line from My Cousin Vinny where Lisa comments on deer hunting while Vinny is concerned about what pants to wear. Lisa says:
Imagine you’re a deer. You’re prancing along, you get thirsty, you spot a little brook, you put your little deer lips down to the cool clear water… BAM! A fuckin bullet rips off part of your head! Your brains are laying on the ground in little bloody pieces! Now I ask ya. Would you give a fuck what kind of pants the son of a bitch who shot you was wearing?
Imagine you are the leader of a country.
And you get a cable from the United States Department of State.
Maybe its a birthday greeting?
Maybe its a list of problems?
Maybe its a declaration of war?
Now I ask you?
Would that leader care what font was used?
Fighting for me?
I had no problem with Calibri.
But while you were out the room, I lost my mind trying to deal with this.
was pretty busy yesterday didn’t follow lot of the news
Last week, a reporter asked Johnson about one of the bigger scandals since Trump again took office. The Washington Post reported that a military commander, following a directive from the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, ordered a follow-up strike to kill survivors of a US attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, which, according to some lawmakers, potentially constituted a war crime.
In this rare case, even some Republican lawmakers raised concerns about the incident. Leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees said they would conduct “rigorous oversight” to determine what happened.
Meanwhile, Johnson’s response was: “I’m not going to prejudge any of that. I was pretty busy yesterday. I didn’t follow a lot of the news.”
the happiness he gives, is quite as great, as if it cost a fortune
When the clock struck eleven, this domestic ball broke up. Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig took their stations, one on either side the door, and shaking hands with every person individually as he or she went out, wished him or her a Merry Christmas. When everybody had retired but the two “Prentices, they did the same to them; and thus the cheerful voices died away, and the lads were left to their beds: which were under a counter in the back shop.
During the whole of this time, Scrooge had acted like a man out of his wits. His heart and soul were in the scene, and with his former self. He corroborated everything, remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and underwent the strangest agitation. It was not until now, when the bright faces of his former self and Dick were turned from them, that he remembered the Ghost, and became conscious that it was looking full upon him, while the light upon its head burnt very clear.
“A small matter,” said the Ghost, “to make these silly folks so full of gratitude.”
“Small!” echoed Scrooge.
The Spirit signed to him to listen to the two apprentices who were pouring out their hearts in praise of Fezziwig; and when he had done so, said,
“Why! Is it not? He has spent but a few pounds of your mortal money—three or four, perhaps. Is that so much that he deserves this praise?”
“It isn’t that,” said Scrooge; heated by the remark and speaking unconsciously like his former—not his latter—self. “It isn’t that, Spirit. He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome: a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lies in words and looks; in things so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count ’em up—what then? The happiness he gives, is quite as great, as if it cost a fortune.”
A Christmas Carol in Prose : Being a Ghost Story of Christmas.
Autograph manuscript signed, December 1843 from the JP Morgan Library.
does the grain of sand know it is a grain of sand in any order
Does the grain of sand know it is a grain of sand? Will secrets fly out of me when I break open? Are the stars standing in any order? Is supplication useful? Exactly.
Riprap #8 as published in The Leaf and Cloud by Mary Oliver (Da Capo: New York, 2000)
In the fly leaf to the copy of The Leaf and Cloud that I have is written:
AN ASTONISHING book-length poem in seven parts from the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award With piercing clarity and craftsmanship, Mary Oliver has fashioned this unforgettable poem of questioning and discovery, about what is observable and what is not, about what passes and what persists.
Questioning and discovery.
About what is observable and what is not.
About what passes and what persists.
My regular readers know how I love to brag that when I am in the office, I get to spend my lunch hour walking the beach on the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina.
I take a sandy path through a salt marsh and then beach grass to the waters edge.
Its the same every day.
It is different every day.
It passes.
It persists.
It is observable.
It is unseen.
Does the grain of sand know it is a grain of sand?
Are the stars standing in any order?
Is supplication useful?
Observable or unseen?
There is a story told that back in World War 2, at one of the summit meetings of President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Marshall Josef Staling, Mr. Churchill mention that the point of view of the Pope should be considered on some point.
Mr. Stalin famously rebuked Mr. Churchill, saying something like, “The Pope, how many divisions does he have?”
Most historical accounts stop there.
But some do include Mr. Churchill’s response.
He said, “Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
No Haiku For You 