The word police antics of progressives (and I consider myself one, mostly) are wearing me out. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a complicated, even problematic novel that still resonates with readers because it's about the courage of conviction and doing what's right even when it gets you nothing in return.
I always thought of Atticus Finch as an ally; isn't that what we're all supposed to be doing these days? Standing up for folks without resources who have been wronged? And if we forget the difficult history of our country, we are, as a wise person once said, condemned to repeat it. I always relished conversations with our daughters when they were young about language, its impact and why it all matters. If we can't talk about this stuff, how will we ever make any headway? Oh, I'm starting to bore myself. But I do despair.
AND I am still laughing over the Golden Girl tweet, which of course is languishing at the bottom of your poll. I am tempted to start voting Chicago style to get these kinds of deliciously dark tweets some daylight.
Eric, I'm glad you have been made whole by the Sentinel in every way but financially, and I hope the day won't be long in coming that you're made whole in that way, too. I enjoy both weekly issues immensely, and concerning length, no way can I read the whole Thursday issue at once, but I don't have to. I read what I have time for, and keep it in my inbox, returning to it later to read further. Long live The Picayune Sentinel.
Well, after 91 years, Dick Tracy is still in the comics pages. Of the Tribune, anyway, a vestige of the glory days of Tribune comics, when people bought newspapers to read the next installment of serials like Brenda Starr, Winnie Winkle, Gasoline Alley, Terry and the Pirates . . .
I am enjoying the PS because it’s educational and enlightening. I don’t often disagree with you but I don’t often agree with you either. And I like that, because I know you’re meticulous when sharing facts, and your opinions give me much to contemplate. I’m imagining, but of course I could be wrong, that reading and evaluating your opinions are helping me to have an open mind. I wish your newsletter would arrive more often and in a shorter form. It is much longer than I imagined, probably because I was used to your columns in the Trib. I’m glad your readership is growing. You’ve earned it.
OMG, as the kids say (or probably don't anymore). It is waaaay too long. And I'm a longform reader from way back. It's doable on the laptop, but on the phone it goes like this: start reading the email, keep reading the email, eventually come to the end of the mail, hit "delete," remember that I haven't yet voted in the TOTW poll, take it out of the trash, click through to keep reading, scroll scroll scroll to find out where I left off, read read read, follow a link, lose the whole damn thing because I'm not at the link, move to the laptop where I can have multiple links open (LOVE the fiddle tunes) and patiently go through the sign in process so I can make a comment about how it's too long.
I love the Sentinel, but it wouldn't bother me a bit to have it broken up a bit. Your former employer sends me links to various articles several times a day and each time it brings me back to its website where maybe I'll also read another article. That's too much for the Sentinel, but a post a day would be just fine and not at all annoying.
A few thoughts. I love the length of the PS though I do wish for a Table of contents at the top. And I wish one didn’t have to scroll til the end to comment on the very many different topics. On the Day that Changed Everything:I had always assumed from the beginning that we’d at some point be in the process of forgetting. To insist on otherwise flies in the face of our last pandemic. Books were written on the subject only decades after the 1918-19 flu pandemic and often mention that in the aftermath people stopped talking about it with amazing swiftness. That prior pandemic certainly changed everything for me personally. It keeps to the death of my biological great grandmother, a 40 year old “spinster” marrying my great grandfather…one who told my grandmother that women couldn’t count on marrying and she’d better work incredibly hard to get herself a scholarship to college so that she could eventually support herself . Which she did and attended college in the 1920’s and where she ( somewhat ironically) met my grandfather.
Also I’d have voted for the “walk into a bar” tweet but I’d seen a much more clever version: A priest a minister and a rabbit walk into a blood donation center and are asked their blood type. “I think I’m a Type O,” says the Rabbit.
Today's title resonated with me Eric...I've been keeping track of days since stay at home and the start of Covid-I didn't have a spiral "planner" so downloaded pages month by month. First I tallied daily, then monthly much like someone incarcerated. I was able to purchase a planner (actually got a few) late last year and as part of the annual world turning in Jan., I filled in squares with birthdays, death days, previous year's memorable events, etc. Today 3 friends have birthdays (2 are married), in 2021 I got my second vax, I have a zoom tonight, and it's day 730-2 years in. Sat, 3/12 was our last outing before IL "stay at home". We went to our chaotic grocery and out for lunch at a old shuttered restaurant that had just reopened with a sense of optimism for that beautiful place-it was busy and lively. Your words today were heartfelt and appreciated. Here are lucky on many levels, privilege (I just realized "vile" is in the middle of that word), pension, place...we live on 5 acres in a very rural part of the state so we have a lot of beauty, peace and space..a double edge sword it seems as we are so physically isolated from our friends and places we enjoy in town (I spent an hour in our Goodwill that was so joyful) as well as those we love so far away. We subscribed to The Atlantic about the time Covid started and it was one of the smarter things we've done. I read Ed's piece you referred to this morning-there were a lot of takeaways from that; I wrote some down in my journal lol. The fact that in "1920 the 4th wave arrived when people died in huge numbers but virtually no city responded" was pretty chilling. I agree that it's critical we memorialize this event in our communities, states and US levels. The future will play out on this disease but the question he raise about "how many extra preventable deaths will be come acceptable?" as we do with car accident fatalities, gun victims, flu" chilling as well. As a whole, I think we've become complacent about death in this country.
Congrats on your success here-yes the PS is long but jam packed with a weeks worth of things to link to and digest. Having more fun, making less money, might be a prescription for an optimal life style along with universal health care.
I too chuckled at "Elizabeth Wrigley-Field"-maybe that's why she fell in love with her husband. I had to look up "splenetic"-a snappy word. I'm sending you an article entitled, "It's a Dick Thing". Al Frankin was a wonderful legislator. "Let's make too much of it" deserves a tee shirt, coffee mug, or bumper sticker. Keep on doing that.
"My “open rate” — the percentage of recipients who find and click on the email — hovers at 70%,"
I confess, I'm one of the non-openers. That's because as a subscriber I keep the PS open in a tab, then refresh twice weekly when you post new stuff.
Regarding Madeleine Schmich's post on Mary's FB page, I wish you had included the pictures of the subways with people hiding from the shelling, very poignent. I also admire Madeleine's courage in including her name considering she's in a country where such thoughts may result in an arrest.
As for Putin. he loses either way as pointed out. I believe his rage at the worldwide backlash and financial punishment will result in the near complete annihilation of Ukraine.
Keep the long format. After a reading, I'll come back to check out additional comments and, in the great Chicago tradition, vote daily (almost) for TOTW. I'm thrilled that my suggested tweet is (so far) in the lead - but it's way early in the voting. (However, I have noticed that initial TOTW polling results (1st day) usually holds up until the end. I have always maintained that "To Kill a Mockingbird" as one of the great novels of the 20th century - regardless as to the reading level at which it was written. The history major in me finds the repellent language integral to the story and the lessons it teaches. As for comedians as politicians - you're right, (very) many are whip smart people - Al Franken is an archetype; and the entire Monty Python Troupe were Oxbridge products, if I'm not mistaken.
The word police antics of progressives (and I consider myself one, mostly) are wearing me out. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a complicated, even problematic novel that still resonates with readers because it's about the courage of conviction and doing what's right even when it gets you nothing in return.
I always thought of Atticus Finch as an ally; isn't that what we're all supposed to be doing these days? Standing up for folks without resources who have been wronged? And if we forget the difficult history of our country, we are, as a wise person once said, condemned to repeat it. I always relished conversations with our daughters when they were young about language, its impact and why it all matters. If we can't talk about this stuff, how will we ever make any headway? Oh, I'm starting to bore myself. But I do despair.
AND I am still laughing over the Golden Girl tweet, which of course is languishing at the bottom of your poll. I am tempted to start voting Chicago style to get these kinds of deliciously dark tweets some daylight.
Eric, I'm glad you have been made whole by the Sentinel in every way but financially, and I hope the day won't be long in coming that you're made whole in that way, too. I enjoy both weekly issues immensely, and concerning length, no way can I read the whole Thursday issue at once, but I don't have to. I read what I have time for, and keep it in my inbox, returning to it later to read further. Long live The Picayune Sentinel.
Well, after 91 years, Dick Tracy is still in the comics pages. Of the Tribune, anyway, a vestige of the glory days of Tribune comics, when people bought newspapers to read the next installment of serials like Brenda Starr, Winnie Winkle, Gasoline Alley, Terry and the Pirates . . .
I am enjoying the PS because it’s educational and enlightening. I don’t often disagree with you but I don’t often agree with you either. And I like that, because I know you’re meticulous when sharing facts, and your opinions give me much to contemplate. I’m imagining, but of course I could be wrong, that reading and evaluating your opinions are helping me to have an open mind. I wish your newsletter would arrive more often and in a shorter form. It is much longer than I imagined, probably because I was used to your columns in the Trib. I’m glad your readership is growing. You’ve earned it.
OMG, as the kids say (or probably don't anymore). It is waaaay too long. And I'm a longform reader from way back. It's doable on the laptop, but on the phone it goes like this: start reading the email, keep reading the email, eventually come to the end of the mail, hit "delete," remember that I haven't yet voted in the TOTW poll, take it out of the trash, click through to keep reading, scroll scroll scroll to find out where I left off, read read read, follow a link, lose the whole damn thing because I'm not at the link, move to the laptop where I can have multiple links open (LOVE the fiddle tunes) and patiently go through the sign in process so I can make a comment about how it's too long.
I love the Sentinel, but it wouldn't bother me a bit to have it broken up a bit. Your former employer sends me links to various articles several times a day and each time it brings me back to its website where maybe I'll also read another article. That's too much for the Sentinel, but a post a day would be just fine and not at all annoying.
A few thoughts. I love the length of the PS though I do wish for a Table of contents at the top. And I wish one didn’t have to scroll til the end to comment on the very many different topics. On the Day that Changed Everything:I had always assumed from the beginning that we’d at some point be in the process of forgetting. To insist on otherwise flies in the face of our last pandemic. Books were written on the subject only decades after the 1918-19 flu pandemic and often mention that in the aftermath people stopped talking about it with amazing swiftness. That prior pandemic certainly changed everything for me personally. It keeps to the death of my biological great grandmother, a 40 year old “spinster” marrying my great grandfather…one who told my grandmother that women couldn’t count on marrying and she’d better work incredibly hard to get herself a scholarship to college so that she could eventually support herself . Which she did and attended college in the 1920’s and where she ( somewhat ironically) met my grandfather.
Also I’d have voted for the “walk into a bar” tweet but I’d seen a much more clever version: A priest a minister and a rabbit walk into a blood donation center and are asked their blood type. “I think I’m a Type O,” says the Rabbit.
So Russia learned from Trump..."fake news" is heard from the Kremlin.
Today's title resonated with me Eric...I've been keeping track of days since stay at home and the start of Covid-I didn't have a spiral "planner" so downloaded pages month by month. First I tallied daily, then monthly much like someone incarcerated. I was able to purchase a planner (actually got a few) late last year and as part of the annual world turning in Jan., I filled in squares with birthdays, death days, previous year's memorable events, etc. Today 3 friends have birthdays (2 are married), in 2021 I got my second vax, I have a zoom tonight, and it's day 730-2 years in. Sat, 3/12 was our last outing before IL "stay at home". We went to our chaotic grocery and out for lunch at a old shuttered restaurant that had just reopened with a sense of optimism for that beautiful place-it was busy and lively. Your words today were heartfelt and appreciated. Here are lucky on many levels, privilege (I just realized "vile" is in the middle of that word), pension, place...we live on 5 acres in a very rural part of the state so we have a lot of beauty, peace and space..a double edge sword it seems as we are so physically isolated from our friends and places we enjoy in town (I spent an hour in our Goodwill that was so joyful) as well as those we love so far away. We subscribed to The Atlantic about the time Covid started and it was one of the smarter things we've done. I read Ed's piece you referred to this morning-there were a lot of takeaways from that; I wrote some down in my journal lol. The fact that in "1920 the 4th wave arrived when people died in huge numbers but virtually no city responded" was pretty chilling. I agree that it's critical we memorialize this event in our communities, states and US levels. The future will play out on this disease but the question he raise about "how many extra preventable deaths will be come acceptable?" as we do with car accident fatalities, gun victims, flu" chilling as well. As a whole, I think we've become complacent about death in this country.
Congrats on your success here-yes the PS is long but jam packed with a weeks worth of things to link to and digest. Having more fun, making less money, might be a prescription for an optimal life style along with universal health care.
I too chuckled at "Elizabeth Wrigley-Field"-maybe that's why she fell in love with her husband. I had to look up "splenetic"-a snappy word. I'm sending you an article entitled, "It's a Dick Thing". Al Frankin was a wonderful legislator. "Let's make too much of it" deserves a tee shirt, coffee mug, or bumper sticker. Keep on doing that.
"My “open rate” — the percentage of recipients who find and click on the email — hovers at 70%,"
I confess, I'm one of the non-openers. That's because as a subscriber I keep the PS open in a tab, then refresh twice weekly when you post new stuff.
Regarding Madeleine Schmich's post on Mary's FB page, I wish you had included the pictures of the subways with people hiding from the shelling, very poignent. I also admire Madeleine's courage in including her name considering she's in a country where such thoughts may result in an arrest.
As for Putin. he loses either way as pointed out. I believe his rage at the worldwide backlash and financial punishment will result in the near complete annihilation of Ukraine.
Keep the long format. After a reading, I'll come back to check out additional comments and, in the great Chicago tradition, vote daily (almost) for TOTW. I'm thrilled that my suggested tweet is (so far) in the lead - but it's way early in the voting. (However, I have noticed that initial TOTW polling results (1st day) usually holds up until the end. I have always maintained that "To Kill a Mockingbird" as one of the great novels of the 20th century - regardless as to the reading level at which it was written. The history major in me finds the repellent language integral to the story and the lessons it teaches. As for comedians as politicians - you're right, (very) many are whip smart people - Al Franken is an archetype; and the entire Monty Python Troupe were Oxbridge products, if I'm not mistaken.