It is a legend at the Players Club that the god of all the arts once whispered into the ear of the young Edwin Booth, and this is what he said:
"I shall give you hunger, and pain, and sleepless nights. Also beauty and satisfactions known to few, and glimpses of the heavenly life. None of these shall you have continually, and of their coming and going you shall not be foretold."
~~~~~~~~~
I found this quote in several places among Edwin's papers, and so know he loved it. It describes his life. . . .
I would add: Nor is this untrue of poets' lives . . . .
We say. When it should have been more. Infinitely more. A bruised heart held a skinned knee comforted.
The weather doesn't care; even notice Nor the birds, about their little birds' ways and the worms, about their little worms' ways
Our need? Oh, greater Greater and greater A bud vase full of rose the petals fall on the polished mahogany. Pink, tinged with gold Veined exactly like a human hand Making sense after all, of what makes no sense at all.
NYT: The Demand for Money Behind Many Police Traffic Stops [Click] Quite a map showing municipalities dependent on traffic citations income—surprisingly, two in Vermont. It sounds like laws requiring “fix-it tickets” for minor equipment violations either do not exist or are ignored in many of those places.
My one and only traffic stop ever, was on a dark and snowy January night in NH for my supposed failure to use a right turn signal at the y intersection of the road on which I had lived for forty years. The officer's surly questions finally clued me into the fact that my Georgia plates had led him to think he had a drug runner in his sights. The turn signal thing was a ruse, as was the burnt out headlight during the day in Florida when the spouse was stopped. The fact that the issuance of a license to drive comes with the recipient's agreement to be stopped at any time for "probable cause" gives cops that they otherwise do not have. Some jurisdictions insist that ever police contact with a civilian be logged in their activity reports. That is part of good management. In our county in Georgia, the cops are not required to keep logs, even though the software exists. That's how it happened that two cops went out of state to do a drug sting without any spervisor knowing anything. An investigation by the IACP brought no change. There are problems and one of the problems has been that the press swallows sensational reports and ignores day to day operations.
I had occasion several years ago to read a NH supreme court case that turned on the issue of whether a cop could "upgrade" a traffic violation beyond what occasioned the stop, and the decision was that it violated the state constitution.
Here in California the law says that one is to register one's car and get state plates within 30 days of establishing residence, but one sees people living here who keep using plates from states with lower licensing fees. In poor parts of town that can lead to police stops, but not around in our part of town--my theory is that the danger of stopping someone rich or influential (a city council member, for instance) is too great. But I would say that sort of thing, wouldn't I?
What if Everything You Learned About Human History Is Wrong? [Click] NYT review of my Christmas present book, “The Dawn of Everything.” Rather unlike my typical reads, “Three weeks before publication, after it suddenly shot to #2 on Amazon, the publisher ordered another 75,000 copies on top of the 50,000 first printing.”
🎃👻We drove to Maine in a deluge of rain yesterday, had a truly delightful visit with 2 of our kids, one DIL and 4 grands there. We stayed overnight at a new and really nice hotel (inexpensive and comfortable, as well as energy efficient!) called "Tru by Hilton." Today we visited Youngest, another DIL and 3 more grands. A barrel of fun! Then drove home and hit rain for most of the trip. Crazy weather, but fun times! 👻🎃
How sweet is this? ❤️ As we were preparing to leave Maine, Grandson (age 5) took me aside and asked, "What does Grandad need?" I thought he was referring to Christmas. I said, "What Grandad really needs is for his new red truck to get made and delivered, but while he's waiting maybe we can get him a toy red truck to help him wait." At that he ran off and the next thing I knew he was handing his own toy red pickup truck to Grandad, and said that Grandad could keep it until his real truck arrives...!!! Grandad melted, and gratefully took it home to put on his work desk. He will keep it until he can go to back to Maine with his real truck, to give that boy a ride! ❤️
It is a legend at the Players Club that the god of all the arts once whispered into the ear of the young Edwin Booth, and this is what he said:
ReplyDelete"I shall give you hunger, and pain, and sleepless nights. Also beauty and satisfactions known to few, and glimpses of the heavenly life. None of these shall you have continually, and of their coming and going you shall not be foretold."
~~~~~~~~~
I found this quote in several places among Edwin's papers, and so know he loved it. It describes his life. . . .
I would add: Nor is this untrue of poets' lives . . . .
Little Enough
ReplyDeleteWe say. When it should have been more.
Infinitely more. A bruised heart held
a skinned knee comforted.
The weather doesn't care;
even notice
Nor the birds, about their
little birds' ways
and the worms, about their
little worms' ways
Our need? Oh, greater
Greater and greater
A bud vase full of rose
the petals fall on the polished
mahogany. Pink, tinged with gold
Veined exactly like a human hand
Making sense after all, of
what makes no sense at all.
.
jjl
11/01/2007
NYT: The Demand for Money Behind Many Police Traffic Stops [Click] Quite a map showing municipalities dependent on traffic citations income—surprisingly, two in Vermont. It sounds like laws requiring “fix-it tickets” for minor equipment violations either do not exist or are ignored in many of those places.
ReplyDeleteMy one and only traffic stop ever, was on a dark and snowy January night in NH for my supposed failure to use a right turn signal at the y intersection of the road on which I had lived for forty years. The officer's surly questions finally clued me into the fact that my Georgia plates had led him to think he had a drug runner in his sights.
DeleteThe turn signal thing was a ruse, as was the burnt out headlight during the day in Florida when the spouse was stopped.
The fact that the issuance of a license to drive comes with the recipient's agreement to be stopped at any time for "probable cause" gives cops that they otherwise do not have.
Some jurisdictions insist that ever police contact with a civilian be logged in their activity reports. That is part of good management. In our county in Georgia, the cops are not required to keep logs, even though the software exists. That's how it happened that two cops went out of state to do a drug sting without any spervisor knowing anything. An investigation by the IACP brought no change.
There are problems and one of the problems has been that the press swallows sensational reports and ignores day to day operations.
I had occasion several years ago to read a NH supreme court case that turned on the issue of whether a cop could "upgrade" a traffic violation beyond what occasioned the stop, and the decision was that it violated the state constitution.
DeleteHere in California the law says that one is to register one's car and get state plates within 30 days of establishing residence, but one sees people living here who keep using plates from states with lower licensing fees. In poor parts of town that can lead to police stops, but not around in our part of town--my theory is that the danger of stopping someone rich or influential (a city council member, for instance) is too great. But I would say that sort of thing, wouldn't I?
DeleteSome people live in more than one state. Bureaucrats would like people to stay put, but that is not in the American DNA.
ReplyDeleteThe anchor-outs: San Francisco’s bohemian boat dwellers fight for their way of life [Click] Gotta make way for the rich nits who don’t like the view where they bought.
ReplyDeleteEverything you think you know about the Winchester Mystery House probably isn't true [Click] Very reasonable explanation of what has long since been turned into a tourist attraction.
ReplyDeleteA credible theory about why people who have been laid off are not rushing back to their previous jobs (or other jobs for that matter): housing price inflation. [Click]
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can see, that link just takes me to some sort of YouTube video. Am I missing something?
DeleteHow a guaranteed income pilot program is helping some in Gary, Indiana [Click]
ReplyDeleteWhat if Everything You Learned About Human History Is Wrong? [Click] NYT review of my Christmas present book, “The Dawn of Everything.” Rather unlike my typical reads, “Three weeks before publication, after it suddenly shot to #2 on Amazon, the publisher ordered another 75,000 copies on top of the 50,000 first printing.”
ReplyDeleteJen Psaki tests positive for Covid
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/2021/10/31/politics/psaki-biden-covid/index.html
🎃👻We drove to Maine in a deluge of rain yesterday, had a truly delightful visit with 2 of our kids, one DIL and 4 grands there. We stayed overnight at a new and really nice hotel (inexpensive and comfortable, as well as energy efficient!) called "Tru by Hilton." Today we visited Youngest, another DIL and 3 more grands. A barrel of fun! Then drove home and hit rain for most of the trip. Crazy weather, but fun times! 👻🎃
ReplyDeleteHow sweet is this? ❤️ As we were preparing to leave Maine, Grandson (age 5) took me aside and asked, "What does Grandad need?" I thought he was referring to Christmas. I said, "What Grandad really needs is for his new red truck to get made and delivered, but while he's waiting maybe we can get him a toy red truck to help him wait." At that he ran off and the next thing I knew he was handing his own toy red pickup truck to Grandad, and said that Grandad could keep it until his real truck arrives...!!! Grandad melted, and gratefully took it home to put on his work desk. He will keep it until he can go to back to Maine with his real truck, to give that boy a ride! ❤️
ReplyDeleteLove it.
DeleteIt doesn't get much better than that.
Delete