The truth is so rare and precious, it needs to be surrounded by a body guard of lies.
Winston Churchill.
Month: August 2016
May I Feel, Said He
People think of ee cummings as avant garde and incomprehensible and avoid him like the plague. Well, sometimes he is. But he is also one of the great romantics and very funny. Try this one and see if you perhaps can understand it. Hugs
may i feel said he
by e e cummings
may i feel said he
(i’ll squeal said she
just once said he)
it’s fun said she
(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she
(let’s go said he
not too far said she
what’s too far said he
where you are said she)
may i stay said he
(which way said she
like this said he
if you kiss said she
may i move said he
is it love said she)
if you’re willing said he
(but you’re killing said she
but it’s life said he
but your wife said she
now said he)
ow said she
(tiptop said he
don’t stop said she
oh no said he)
go slow said she
(cccome?said he
ummm said she)
you’re divine!said he
(you are Mine said she)
Gression
Here’s a word I bet you don’t know:
Gression
To step or go.
The root of digression, transgression, aggression and regression.
I thought that would make you gruntled. Nope, unfotunately, not the opposite of disgruntled, but one can hope.
The Stationers
We were just with our friend in London, Captain Peter Hames, RN, Retired. After Peter left the sea he became the Clerk to the Stationers, a member organization of the Livery Company. We went to see the Stationers Hall, a beautiful 17th Century hall built after the Great London fire to replace the old hall.
The Livery Company was a corporation organized with the approval of the Crown which incorporated the various Guilds. The Guilds were the trade organizations formed to regulate the trades and prevent competition in old England.
I thought of Livery as meaning delivery or chauffeurs or the like. But it is a broader term, meaning the right to wear certain dress. The Livery Company has produced many Lord Mayors of London. Meaning the City of London, the financial district within the old city walls, comprising a square mile. While not an important position, the Lord Mayor exercises a lot of political influence.
A Clerk of the Stationers is a key person, worthy of a carved wooden plaque listing all the Clerks going back hundreds of years. It sits beside the plaque of all the past Masters of the Stationers, the elected head of the trade organization. There is a similar arrangement in every musical organization, like the L.A. Philharmonic, which has a Music Director and an administrative President, who is a paid and powerful full time employee.
Several interesting etymological facts. The Stationers, who began as the organization to control the content of printers, to assure that nothing was printed that was salacious or seditious, evolved as time changed into an organization whose approval had to be obtained in order to reproduce a printed work. Copies could be sold. It is there that the term “copyright” was born.
And originally, members of the Stationers were the only ones allowed to sell their manuscripts from fixed stalls in the courtyard of St. Paul’s. All other sellers were itinerant. They were “stationary,” even if the term is spelled differently.
Thank you Peter.
Bootleg
The term “bootleg” originated from the late 19th century smuggler’s practice of concealing a bottle of liquor between his (or her) boot and his leg.
Credit to Marisa Christensen for finding the origin.
David Gersh 