This Tiny Love Story, by Leslea Newman, was in the NYT today.
“If you met Mary today, would you still choose her?” a friend asked. “Of course,” I replied. I felt indignant at the question, yet knew why it had been asked. Mary and I are nothing alike. Mary hails from Puerto Rico and is a former nun; I’m from Brooklyn and light Shabbat candles every Friday night. Mary enjoys horror films; I enjoy poetry readings. Last night Mary ate pork chops for supper; I feasted on tofu. So why did I choose her? Thirty-six years ago, I looked into her eyes and saw nothing but kindness. I still do.
Here’s the opposite. This is Mark Robinson. He is a raving lunatic running for Governor of NC with Trump’s backing, to no surprise. Trump called him “MLK times two,” which only makes sense as a reference to his weight.
Among his greatest hits are his wish to go back in time to when women couldn’t vote. His explanation: “Because in those days, we had people who fought for real social change, and they were called Republicans. And they are the reason why women can vote today.”
Wait, what? Should they vote or not?
Robinson described Blacks who vote for Democrats as “slaves,” and claimed that “so many freedoms were lost during the Civil Rights Movement.”
“Black folks don’t respond to those types of comments,” said Cliff Albright, of Black Voters Matter.
Ya think?
Speaking of votes and women — I was surprised to see Geraldine Ferraro got an Oscar nomination last night. I didn’t even know she went into acting. You’ll get ’em next time Gerry! Lookin’ good!
What’s that, George? It wasn’t her? She’s been dead since 2011? Sorry everybody. Human error.
One of Rex’s commenters enjoys putting a story together using as many words from the puzzle as she can. I could see that being a neat assignment for a freshman writing class. I pass them up — they don’t do anything for me. But others enjoy them. I liked Gary’s review of today’s tale of words:
“Another nerve wracking thrill ride where the careful delineation between the comfortable concepts of noun, verb, and adjective gets tossed around in the trunk screaming to get out.”
PICKLEBALL was an answer in the puzzle today, clued as “Washington’s official state sport since 2022.” I had no idea. WA was getting a little grief for it in the comments. Then egs wrote:
In defense of Washington, PICKLEBALL was invented there and has been played in schools in many districts for years. When it became a big deal, the Pickleball community (full disclosure: that includes me) united to push its adoption as the state sport. Traditionally, the person or team on the side of the court closest to Bainbridge Island, birthplace of the game, serves first. This gets dicey when you’re playing on Bainbridge Island, but works fine elsewhere.
Let’s take a breather.
Vermont Lizzie sent us an email that included a drawing of Susan today. It was done from a photo by a friend. Liz says it captures Susan’s youthful beauty. Susan was very beautiful — both in traditional ways and in ways that only came across in her eyes, smile, gestures, laugh — you know what I mean. Even at the end, when it was all taken away, she was beautiful in a different way.
Miss you, S.
Good night everybody.
The Wellington Files 