All About the Semantics

 I am not writing about politics, not directly anyway. There will always be the Right and the Left, and that's an integral part of the game, a rancorous game, but let's leave it at that.

   I will restict my remarks here to the conveyors  of what we like  to consider the impartial reports  from the media and purported allies who have bowed down and sold out to the forces of big brotherism combined with personal greed and ambition. 

  As stated, "I have come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." Let's not try to compare two debaters who performed in completely different methodologies. The reporters and observers seem to have arrived at one of the most popular assessments ever realized, in the form of condemning Biden's input. It even seems as if  a number of the conclusions drawn were formulated prior to the debate. Ready, set, go. The proverbial snowball gathers steam as it careens down the slope to its final resting place amongst popular, albeit spoonfed, opinion. Inundating the public with the "If it bleeds it leads" mantra may be news-pimping, but it sells. Concentrate on a single theme, the more sensational and easier to define the better.

 Today I read an article by one of the formerly onboard Media purge  refer to "Biden's shaky debate performance." This is honestly the first time I recall seeing or hearing any descriptor  but the Disastrous debate. And here is my point:

   I have spent many years as an editor, item, report and article writer, and reviewer of essays and applications and communications and submissions at the high school, college and professional levels. I humbly say I had high efficiency and success ratings for my efforts.

 I watched/ listened to the presidential  debate. It is true I didn't pay rapt attention so may have missed something. My overall impression was one of finding it rather boring. Yes, Biden's voice was weak and raspy, but aside from a "name-flub" or two, I would not have rated his performance anywhere near a disaster. If I were to assign a letter grade, probably a "C." Or maybe C-

But his opponent is hereby warned not to rest on his debate laurels, flawed as they were. Now that Biden is out of the picture, the media (specific and wholesale) jackals are on a single-minded pursuit of the fresh blood that they previously overlooked. Left wing, Right wing, mainstream, or specialty, they all recognize the importance of presenting a single issue to their audiences---the more gruesome the better.

  

Dole out...

...punishment, whether penalty box or  pummeling, for any and all writers and speakers who use the term "word salad." 

Dream(ing) On...

 Dreams, mine anyway, seem more detailed than reality, but trying to recall them is like waves wiping away tracks in the sand. So much disappears in the haze of memory.

  I was scheduled for surgery, was with M. in a facility for the procedure. We wended our way through a maze of hallways and rooms until we arrived at the  designated location. It was just a small square room. The doctor entered, a mild-looking man probably of  lower middle age. He spoke to us, mostly to M. He would sing in between his discussions, semi-classical tunes as I recall, and he sang quite loudly.

   When the nurse came in to check status, etc., she said there was a problem. The procedure had been canceled, and could not be rescheduled for this day. It seems when  the confirmation call was sent, to M's house, the call was answered by a quite young Samantha W. , who had meant to confirm, but mistakenly cancelled. She felt bad, finding out, but she was just a child. Rescheduling meant working around other issues, but would resume in future.

   As M. and I left the facility, we saw the doctor seated at the lunch table, with a doctor of another ethnicity. "Our" doctor was singing, out loud. 

"No Problem" no longer?

 Some people, mostly older folks most likley, seem to object to the response of "No problem" after extending a  thank you,  seeing it as a rather dismissive reply to an expression of gratitude. I don't mind at all, but maybe that expression  is due for replacement anyway.

  Today, the young bagperson at the grocery store might have coined a new response, or maybe I'm just isolated and out of the loop of conversation. When he put my groceries in the cart, I said Thank You, as I always do. I knew nobody in that age group would say "You're welcome." That's old school, but instead of the "No Problem", this very cool looking young guy clearly and confidently replied with "Of Course." I can't figure out how this exactly applies, but I think it was good-intentioned.

   Another iteration occurred at Cardio Rehab, and I'm still wondering how to take it. Mike, the chief R.N. there, adjusted the machine I was on and I said thank you, and his reply was "That's what I do." I think I prefer the "Of course."  Thanks for reading. 

I had a dream.

 No, nothing inspirational, just a dream. I was driving a red compact car out of a side street or parking lot wanting to make a right turn  onto the highway. The driver approaching from the left stopped and beckoned for me to go ahead. But there was a rough area and my car couldn't make the grade. The other driver waited for me. I backed my car up a little ways and floored it and the car responded. On exiting, there was a rare parking space nearby. I felt a little guillty appropriating it under the circumstances but did so. I got out of the car and started to walk to  the  nearby venue. As I walked along the sidewalk, I experienced a sharp pain in my left eye. It woke me up and my eye hurts. I suppose I should call the ophthalmologist, but can't imagine the long wait and then driving while dilated. (I warned about the lack  of inspiration. 

Disregarding the "politics"...

 ...One person responds to another's plight with sympathy, compassion, decency. The other responds to that person's health issues and disappointments with name-calling, untruths, and desire for revenge and financial payback. False equivalency promulgated by the majority of  news-whore media  has replaced intelligence and awareness.  

And in my world, ...

 ...anyone using the words girldad, girlmom,  boymom, boydad, dogdad, or any modification thereof, should face consequences ----penalties yet to be determined, but based on the extent of bastardization of the English language.

Also If...

 ....you ever see me putting a period after each word in a sentence, lock me up.

IF...

 ...you ever catch me responding to a post with " Exactly! Yep. or Truth!"  feel free to institutionalize me, or at least administer a Cognitive Impairment" test. Though,. please, not the one  "Count backwards by 7's from 100."

Unquote, Quote

 In the times  of spare necessities and sparse income, owning books was a luxury, and in our house, there was a well worn Webster's Dictionary, the traditional old family Bible, tattered and torn, and a paperbound World War I Memoir Book from my father's days of service. Later, when finances provided for more than the basic necessities, he bought a set of encyclopedias, displayed in a newly purchased bookshelf, the kind with the metal hairpin legs.

  But somewhere in those early days, I recall coming across a book of familiar quotations, not Bartlett's I'm sure, but maybe even an insert from a magazine or such. The quotations seemed largely based on the military. I remember reading them and thinking I could write things like that. Maybe I could be a writer of quotations when I grew up. I figured, given the appropriate circumstances, I could have said "Don't give up the ship, Fire when ready, War is Hell, Damn the torpedoes,  (when I was old enough to swear) and even I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country."  I wasn't sure about not firing until I see the whites of their eyes, but that was probably a one-time thing anyway. 

  I grew out of that stage, realizing it had been the singer, not the song, that had made those words immemorial. My next  career aspirations were to be based on a more realistic foundation. I had read a magazine account of a man who was widely sought out for his intensive knowledge of Shakespeare. He lived in New York City, but speakers and writers across the country, and even worldwide,  went to him for his expertise in  providing  the exactly appropriate Shakespearean quote when they wanted to make some salient point, and sound educated doing so. I had acquired a book, "The Complete Works of Shakespeare," loved to read, so I surmised I could read everything Shakespeare had ever written, and replace that master of Shakespearean quotations. Alas and Alack, I  never pursued that vocation, but just think how devastating it would have been to be replaced by google.

  But fame, illusive as it may be, has at last been captured. I understand someone, somewhere, has heard my words.   There IS more than one way to live a life.

House Cleaning

 The house was cherished by the family for well over 100 years. All who view it say it looks beautiful. Everything is pristine and plain, without any evidence of  the generations who called it home for  almost a century and a half. 

  You are now welcome to make it your  home, fill it with your treasures and memories, and live a busy and happy life there, busy enough to block out the inevitable truth that someday the house will again be stripped of all remnants of  occupancy. Potential buyers will find beauty in the absence of a previous life there. And so  it goes.