IT'S MARCH

It's a new month and I've got to come up with some new ideas for my web creations, so as with these guys, I'm going to go the last mile and bring in the SHMOO. "Abandon all hope, ye who continue to enter here."

OH GLORY HOW HAPPY I AM

Oh, when I was out in the world of sin
I had no one to be my friend
Jesus came and he taken me in
Glory, hallelu
And he taken my feet out the miry clay
He placed them up on a rock to stay
I thank God that I can say
Glory, hallelu
O, Glory how happy I am
O, Glory how happy I am
My soul is washed in the blood of the lamb
Glory, hallelu
O, Glory how happy I am
Yeah, glory how happy I am
My soul is washed in the blood of the lamb
Glory, hallelu
I was out in darkness and I could not see
Jesus came and he rescued me
He claimed me and gave me a victory
Glory, hallelu
And one day while Jesus was passing by
He set my sinful soul on fire
He made me laugh and he made me cry
Glory, hallelu
Whoa!
Yeah, glory how happy I am
My soul is washed in the blood of the lamb
Glory, hallelu
Whoa, glory how happy I am
Oh, glory how happy I am
My soul is washed in the blood of the lamb
Glory, hallelu
When I could not understand
Jesus, he give me a lending hand
Led me away to the promised land
Glory, hallelu
Oh, well he give me a horn and he told me to blow
Go in peace and sin no more
He led me away to the upright shore
Glory, hallelu
Whoa, glory how happy I
Yes!
My soul is washed in the blood of the lamb
Glory, hallelu
Well, glory
Yeah!
My soul is washed in the blood of the lamb
Glory, hallelu
I know something that's mighty swell
A sweet little story I love to tell
Jesus saved my soul from Hell
Glory, hallelu
Oh, stand back Satan, get out of my way
I don't want to hear not a word you say
I'm on my way to the King's highway
Glory, hallelu
Well thank God I got over at last
Thank God I got over at last
My feet is planted in the narrow path
Glory, hallelu
Whoa, glory how happy I am
Whoa, glory how happy I am
My soul is washed in the blood of the lamb
Glory, hallelu
When I had no home to claim
I begin to call on Jesus' name
He saved me from old Satan's chains
Glory, hallelu
Now I'm fire-baptized and holy ghost-filled
I'm out here to do my master's will
I must keep going, I must keep
Glory, hallelu
Well, glory
Whoa, glory how happy I am
My soul is washed in the blood of the lamb
Glory, hallelu
Yeah, glory how
Yeah!
My soul is washed in the blood of the lamb
Glory, hallelu

NEXT YEAR? "FOUR DEAD IN O-HI-O" !!

Top story by the great Jimmy Reston, who was fed to us by New York Times News Service. There were a couple of occasions when I shared a front page with the master. Odd! We were affiliated with theTimes, who own the remaining half of the Telegram and Gazette franchise today, but used the Associated Press Stylebook instead of the New York Times stylebook. And... we defended AP style as if it were one of those hills in Vietnam.

N.B. I use "Times" font in this blog as opposed to "Verdana" in the others. (BOLD)

WORK-A-DAY JOURNALISM

Found this by-line today while scrolling through Gazette microfilm. Very tedious process, but I'd like to restore my files which were lost in a fire in 1970. Each film has two weeks of newspapers. ALL 6 editions of the pages which were regional. Every front page was different, reflecting the region it was sent to. I need a secretary for this.

ASSHOLE and why (perhaps) we use it so much.

The term, not the orifice.

My theory, based upon a lifetime spent in the pursuit of useless historical trivia, is that most cultures would find it inane for a person to call another person a body part.  I know we use "prick" and  "cunt" and "dickhead" and a host of other anatomical pejoratives in addition to "asshole." But you can't sue anyone for calling you those names because it's not a possibility in the real world. For example, "Son of a Bitch" is metaphorical, but "Fool" is a real possibility. Don't call someone a "Fool" or you might find yourself in court.

So, theorizing(there I go again) that being called an "elbow" or a "toe" wouldn't be offensive, I posit that the true reason we throw "asshole" around so freely is that it's a vestigial language element left over from the Romans.

In Latin there were two words that were spelled a-n-u-s. One had a long u, and the other, a short u. I don't remember which was which, but one of those words meant just what we mean by it today in English.

The other anus, however, means "old woman," and we do use the adjective "anile" in English to mean "Like an old woman."  All Male dominated cultures bristle at the idea of the manliness of a male being defamed. In Latin, to call someone an ANUS, was, not to imply that they were anatomically incorrect, but that they were old-womanly.

I think that's why the term "Asshole" is so ubiquitous in Western Culture. If you're not convinced, I'd be happy to expand upon what I've said IN LATIN. (with footnotes)

REWRITE!...NOT RETWEET!

Last night I put up a post and linked it to twitter that will probably be misunderstood, so I need to spend some time clarifying it. "A gentle reminder" and "Don't you forget it" were meant to channel the great performance by Warren Beatty in "REDS." The "Don't rewrite" scene comes early in the movie when Jack Reed gets angry at Max Eastman(I believe), his editor, for rewriting his copy. Later in the movie, in a scene that I think is a masterpiece, Comrade Reed has a dramatic confrontation in a rail car where he tells Comrade Zinoviev the exact same thing.

When @ladinah asked me if she was RTing me properly, I realized immediately that I was probably going to be misunderstood as to the tweet's meaning.

So let me be clear. I had no intention to criticize or manage anyone's twitter style. It was an attempt to share a vignette with folks I thought might see some irony in it. Twitter is Twitter and I surely don't consider it "writing." When Novels are being written on "post-it" notes, then, maybe, I'll call it "writing," but not until. If you follow me long enough, you'll learn that I can be pretty obtuse. It's gotten me blocked by some who should be absolutely on the same page with me. So consider this an apology for any confusion that tweet caused and I'll end with this piece of advice. When you're at bat and you see that big swinging curve ball coming toward you, take it for a ball, because if you swing at it...You're gonna miss it a mile.

<3 ~Terry