“Stories that get worse as they get longer.”
Me August 5, 2004 re some now-forgotten episode involving Dalton McGuinty and André Ouellet.
“I never had the same determination about baseball, and maybe that was my undoing. No matter how badly I wanted to get a base hit, I knew the other guy was trying to stop me. And I might be overmatched. In front of an audience, no one can stop me but myself.”
Bob Uecker and Mickey Herskowitz Catcher in the Wry
“Two weeks ago in the run-up to Halloween, I visited Salem, Massachusetts... I was bowled over by what I found in the Witch City: bigger crowds, longer lines and a wider and welcome array of merchandise geared toward many different religious traditions and ethnic identities. Amid the curious crowds in black capes and conical hats, bags overflowing with DIY spell kits and candles to enhance prosperity, I overheard the same question: Is magic really real? For me, the answer is yes. I am one of a million-plus Americans who – whether proudly, secretly or dabbling through the power of consumerism – practice some form of witchcraft. Witchcraft, which includes Wicca, paganism, folk magic and other New Age traditions, is one of the fastest-growing spiritual paths in America. In 1990, Trinity College in Connecticut estimated there were 8,000 adherents of Wicca. In 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau figure was 342,000.... The precise number of witches in America is difficult to determine because many practitioners are solitary and, either by choice or circumstance, do not openly identify as such.”
Antonio Pagliarulo, author of the forthcoming “The Evil Eye: The History, Mystery, and Magic of the Quiet Curse”, in an NBC “Think” “Culture & Lifestyle” piece 30/10/22
“’My 401(k) is now a 201(k), heading for a 101(k).’”
Thomas L. Friedman calling it “the dominant mood” of Americans, who wanted Bush to forget Iraq and fix the economy, in New York Times February 5, 2003
“Look Ma! No hands!”
The title of an autobiography by Allan Piper, Canada’s first double amputee of World War II, who lost both hands while training recruits to throw grenades in July 1942, cited by Dave Brown in Ottawa Citizen August 27, 1999
“Those who tell the stories rule society.”
Widely cited on line [often attributed to Plato but I cannot find any specific place he supposedly said it, and it also turns up as native American wisdom. So I doubt Plato said it and if you know where he did please tell me, but if he did not say it he should have.]
“Vivienne Westwood, influential fashion maverick, dies at 81/ Vivienne Westwood, an influential fashion maverick who played a key role in the punk movement, died Thursday at 81.”
Subject line/headline and text of email teaser from “NBC News Top Stories” December 29, 2022 [oh, that’s original a fashion maverick, whatever will they think of next, to shock the bourgeoisie?]
“Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality.”
John William Gardner, quoted as “Thought du jour” in “Social Studies” in Globe & Mail April 26, 2010