Joe Biden tonight

President Joe Biden, speaking tonight:

“History tells us that blind loyalty to a single leader and a willingness to engage in political violence is fatal to democracy. For a long time we told ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed. But it’s not. We have to defend it, protect it, stand up for it, each and every one of us. That’s why tonight I’m asking our nation to come together: unite behind the single purpose of defending our democracy regardless of your ideology.”

The speech is now at C-SPAN.

[My transcription.]

A second Third

I have a Webster’s Second. I have a Webster’s Third. And I have a second Third, bought a library book-sale (for fifty cents, I think). The second Third is a first edition, with a color portrait of Noah Webster in the front and the name of a long-time member of the university community stamped on the inside cover.

I don’t need a second Third. My first Third is enough. But when it came time to haul books to the library today, the second Third made it back to the house from the car. I’m not parting with it yet.

A place for everything . . .

[“62563-B-Drama-Music-Opera-Writing & Misc. Iowa State Univ. Creative Arts Program - ’61.” Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt. 1961. From the Life Photo Archive. Click for a much larger view.]

. . .  and everything in its place.

This photograph makes me feel less cluttered already. But it’s not going to stop me from taking a pile of books to the library today for the next book sale.

Here are a couple of photographs of my desk, without and with a desk organizer. You can see right away the difference an organizer makes.

This post is for Matt Thomas, who occasionally posts photographs of desks at Submitted for Your Perusal.

Molly Dodd again

For anyone who needs to know: the complete run of The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd is once again at YouTube. The costs of music-licensing pretty much assure that this show will never be available on DVD. So watch while you can, before the uploads are yanked once again.

I have the persistent thought that someday Elaine and I will be browsing in Three Lives & Company and we’ll see Blair Brown browsing and be able to tell her how much we love this show. We’ve already written a fan letter to Jay Tarses.

Orange Crate Art, as you have guessed, is a Dodd-friendly zone.

[Note: I have no idea if Blair Brown has ever browsed at Three Lives & Company.]

LTC

You know that you have the well-being of an older family member on your mind when you see a money-asking e-mail from LTC (Ret.) Alex Vindman in your inbox and the first thing you think is long-term care.

Long-term care insurance is a tricky proposition. Here’s one take.

[No questions: that’s all I’m gonna say about long-term care insurance.]

Nancy, peaking?

[Nancy, August 31, 2022. Click for a larger view.]

In today’s strip, Nancy begins to wonder if she’s peaked.

Related reading
All OCA Nancy posts (Pinboard)

Attachment F

[Click for a much larger view.]

The Justice Department knows how to make an argument. And how. Attachment F is this photograph, the last item in the response to the defeated former president’s request for a special master to examine materials taken from Mar-a-Lago. Attachment F follows Attachment E, a certification from a representative of the defeated former president swearing or affirming that “a diligent search” of boxes of materials removed from the White House took place and that “any and all responsive documents” accompany the certification. And then, as Steve Jobs liked to say, one more thing — a photograph of just some of what the FBI found.

This photograph makes me queasy. I can only imagine how someone with any idea of what’s under the cover sheets and what’s on the whited-out pages might feel. But I can guess what’s in those gold frames.

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The Washington Post has a close reading of Attachment F.

*

And Adam Schiff highlights passages from the filing.

Cecil B. DeMille’s desk calendar

[“Movie director Cecil B. DeMille’s desk calendar outlining appointments.” Photograph by John Florea. Hollywood, California. March 1948. From the Life Photo Archive. Click for a larger view.]

Notice that there’s nothing on this day about Norma Desmond’s Salome screenplay.

Vet

I finally thought to look up a word that’s long puzzled me: the verb vet. I had anticipated some weirdness in its past — perhaps a Latin phrase about trustworthiness for which it’s a one-syllable stand-in? Alas, the origin is disappointingly obvious, though not so obvious that I would have guessed it. Merriam-Webster explains:

When we vet a statement for accuracy or vet a candidate for a position, what are we doing, literally? Does the verb have something to do with veteran “a person with long experience,” perhaps indicating that the thing or person vetted is proved to be tried and true?

Interestingly, the word is not related to veteran at all, but rather to veterinarian “an animal doctor.” That noun was shortened to vet by the mid-19th century and, within decades, gave rise to a verb vet meaning “to subject (an animal) to medical examination.” The verb was soon applied to human beings as well, broadening in sense to “to perform a medical checkup on.” By the early 20th century, this word took on the figurative meaning that is now most familiar: “to subject a person or thing to scrutiny; to examine for flaws.”

This post has been fully vetted. Now I’m thinking about why dictionaries omit a comma between a word and its definition: “veteran ‘a person with long experience.’” A space-saving measure over hundreds and thousands of pages of text, I would guess.

Sam Potts’s five-point plan

From Sam Potts, graphic designer, “My Five-Point Plan for Doing Projects.” I especially like no. 3: “Heed the wisdom of Mickey Rivers,” who said this:

“Ain’t no sense worrying about things you got no control over because if you got no control, ain’t no sense worrying. And there ain’t no sense worrying about things you got control over, because if you got control, ain’t no sense worrying.”

Mickey Rivers played center field for for the California Angels, the New York Yankees, and the Texas Rangers.

Some years ago, Sam Potts created Infinite Jest : A Diagram, mapping the relations of the novel’s characters. I still have my copy, 2′× 3′.