Candidates, buggered by hubris and the provisional security provided by the passive voice, don't want it all to end like this.

Moment

Sitting in the basement of the building where I learn my craft, every cubicle seems to house hand sanitizer and the books from the early 1800s behind me leave rust streaks on my jeans when I read with the goal of understanding how it came to pass that street urchins stealing from the pockets of passing clerks and candlemakers were punished by men in wigs.


Word

Palladium - looked that one up today.

Letter

Dear Eli,

It's like the braces finally came off and you stopped humping the pillow at night when you thought everyone was asleep. Don't get too excited - a different kind of sullenness looms.


Poem

At 45, Carver is a large man,
with hair in the throes of going gray, a pudding face,
the beginnings of jowls. He's wearing a patterned polyester shirt,
with an oversized, way-out-of-style collar,
blue jeans and slippers that are coming apart.
More than anything, he looks kind




Event


McCain, the provisional "if it's gonna be a Republican" choice of the disillusioned and cynical Democratic wing, was in Vietnam. Just wanted to remind people of that, b/c it is an election and sometimes we don't spend enough time rehashing the war. It's terribly important to establish bona fides vis a vis references to the late 60s and early 70s, lest we fail to acknowledge the terrific importance of the generation who lived during that time. That generation also gets overlooked a lot.