I have been reading a number of good articles in The Atlantic (from my local library's online database). I especially like the articles by the editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. They seem able to show, better than most newspapers and magazines, what are the moving parts of the MAGA movement.
Reading the articles help keep me quasi-sane.
***
I've been thinking about President Trump again. Months back I was beaten down thinking about him and about the gains he and his followers have had. Yet, it seems the tide is turning, indeed.
He seems beaten down, and tired. He has always been good--stunningly good--at dealing with the pushback on all of his lies. Now, his age coupled with the mountain of lies are coming home to roost. And he's starting to flail wildly in an effort to look poised and in control.
He is beginning to look unpoised and out of control. Maybe the arc of the universe does bend toward justice.
***
I'm just typing up some interesting phrases and sentences that I find euphonic.
--"dumping out prodigious amounts of rain" (Peter Brannen)
--"The concreteness of the scene carries the burden of the meaning." (Chris Anderson"
--"a disturbing sense of mental disorientation" (Robert Atwan)
--"petty crimes and murder across a desperate American landscape" (Richard Sandomir)
--"We're all dying in increments." (Roger Ebert)
--"It's a colossal miscalculation." (Roger Ebert)
--"a waltz-length white wedding dress" (Joan Didion)
--"a frail and unhinged casualty of modern life" (Nathan Heller)
--"trim back on the magnitude of your ambition" (Jon Franklin)
--"enriching the story with new revelations" (David Sassoon)
--"For all the drug-addled extravagance" (Peter Richardson)
--"No views, no food." (David Brooks)
--"alongside a state-of-the-art waterpark" (Eric Adler et al.)
***
I've been reviewing a book I got years ago. It's called Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors, by Bill Bryson. It's a great book for writers. It gives the correct spelling, and lots of definitions, on thousands of words. They tend to be words that the spelling can be tricky.
Here are some examples:
Minsk Capital of Belarus.
mullah Muslim teacher.
murmur
oscillate
plenteous
propinquity Nearness or similarity.
rumba A lively dance of Cuban origin.
Senegal West African republic; capital Dakar.
seppuku Ritual suicide in Japan; hara-kiri.
tattoo
Valhalla In Norse mythology, a great hall of slain warriors.
***
--There is more to life than increasing its speed. Mahatma Gandhi
--What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other. George Eliot
--The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. William James
--Measure twice, cut once. Craftperson's aphorism
--Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better. John Updike
--If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying hard enough. Vince Lombardi
--Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Robert F. Kennedy
--A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience. Spanish proverb
***
I have been trying to write more. It's always present in my psyche but most of the time I don't follow-through with the action steps.
I seem to be dealing with some momentum that is helping now. I do find it interesting to puzzle over why writing at times can be difficult and at other times quite natural.
I have guesses but no answers.
***
I know I go back constantly to President Trump but it seems the nature of the beast. Now the president has invaded a country. That's new.
I remember him saying he would be the president to end Bush-style wars. I know this is truly out of character for the president, but it looks like he fibbed.
***
