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Etiquetteer

Encouraging Perfect Propriety in an Imperfect World since 2001
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THIS IS ROBERT TALKING . . . Or, the Dark Side of Etiquetteer :-)

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Gloria Swanson in The Trespasser (which I have not seen), about to give us “Love, Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere.”

Wednesday Afternoon, 27 March

March 27, 2024

1) That Man is now hawking a Bible (!) which includes America’s founding documents. Where is the outrage from devout Christians over this blasphemy? Someone on Bluesky suggested that this would “Make America Prey Again” — clever! — which reminded me of what a college-era friend once said: “If He had not meant them to be shorn, He would not have made them sheep!”

1a) After several weeks, I have resumed the habit of morning devotional, and wouldn’t you know it, today was Matthew 21, which includes verse 13: “And he said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a bandit’s cave.” Fitting, in this case.

2) Today happens to be Gloria Swanson’s birthday (knowledge also gleaned from Bluesky), so we can all weep with tender appreciation over her singing of “Love, Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere.” (Start the video above at 00:23.) The single she recorded is here. Arden and Ohman’s lushly orchestrated version is here. And Ben Selvin’s two-step/march version here.

3) I am having a little trouble pressing the reset button in my life — not least because the immediate becomes more urgent than long-term things — but that doesn’t mean I’m sitting still. How I change direction, and to what, is the question.

← Thursday-Friday, April 4-5: Atlanta, Days One and TwoMonday, 11 March -- New York, Day Five →
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