Saturday, December 8, 2018

I could be another Lincoln

Being by nature a procrastinator, I failed to blog about St. Nicholas on December 6th (although I have done so in other years) and Pearl Harbor on the 7th (although I think I have done so in other years), and if I don't get on a stick, I will miss Beethoven's birthday as well (note to U.K. readers: "get on a stick" is an American colloquialism meaning "busy").

Some things cannot be helped.

Although others certainly can, but I will not list them at this time.

Thanks be to God.

This is another rambling post from moi, stream-of-consciousness, wide-ranging, free-wheeling, whatever you want to call it.

Some sort of post is needed, but I do not feel up to the task.

Harold Arlen's famous lyrics from The Wizard of Oz come to mind:

[Scarecrow]
I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain
And my head I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain

I'd unravel every riddle
For any individ'le
In trouble or in pain

[Dorothy]
With the thoughts you'd be thinkin'
You could be another Lincoln
If you only had a brain

[Scarecrow]
Oh, I would tell you why
The ocean's near the shore
I could think of things I never thunk before
And then I'd sit and think some more

I would not be just a nuffin'
My head all full of stuffin'
My heart all full of pain
I would dance and be merry
Life would be a ding-a-derry
If I only had a brain

Gosh, it would be awful pleasin'
To reason out the reason
For things I can't explain

Then perhaps I'll deserve ya
And be even worthy of ya
If I only had a brain


Riddle of the day: Who is this woman and how is she connected to this post?


8 comments:

  1. I have no idea who this lady is, but my only guess is she wrote the song. Oh wait, I see Harold Arlen wrote it. Do tell.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Terra. See Graham Edward's answer below. He nailed it.

      Delete
  2. I can truthfully say that my reply was a pure guess and I didn't see the name in the label until after I'd posted the comment and the page refreshed. But then I knew it was not Mrs Beethoven (because there wasn't one) or Dorothy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Graham Edwards, truthfulness is good always, er, usually, er, at some times but not others. There is truth that will set you free but also truth that can get you killed.

      There was a Mrs. Beethoven, by the way -- Ludwig's mother. This just in: the family name was Van Beethoven, not Beethoven, as it was Dutch.

      Delete
  3. PPS Not Mrs Lincoln as in the President's wife but Kennedy's secretary who was pretty controversial after his death.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Graham Edwards, yes, she was President Kennedy's secretary but contrary to a popular myth, President Lincoln's secretary was not named Kennedy. See my next post.

      Delete

<b>My new favorite poem</b>

...is the following one, purportedly by Billy Collins: Another Reason Why I Don't Keep A Gun In The House The neighbors'...