E.C. Walsh Blogsphere

Four poems

“Pun-iant” by yours truly

“What you say is pun-iant, and you make a pun-found pun-t. But how much do you think it punn-y matters?”

“It adds a pun-tain pun-thing to life.”

“I think you need a wife.”

“Yes, as long as she does not pun-ch me.”

“Just get out before I reach for my pun-fle and use it to put a pun through your head!”

“Well said.”

 

“Happy” by yours truly

“You are beautiful, smart, and kind, and I am sure you will make someone hump-y. Oops, meant happy. ”

“Is there a difference?”

“Vast deference.”

“Why speak of body parts?”

“‘Cause I went to a school of arts.”

 

“Soul” by yours truly

“My diagnosis is you have a severe case of pun-berculosis. Not a good prognosis.”

“Roses, roses, roses. ‘Flowers of Guatemala.'”

“And your R.E.M. rates are out of control.”

“Hmm. Seems I am in a hole.”

“Don’t worry too much. You still have a soul.”

 

“Pun to Death” by yours truly

“Do you need more pun-f of how pun-gry people are at you, you pun-k? Everyone wants to pun-ch you and pun-ish you the rest of your pun-fe.”

“Really, I thought it was only a case of pun-anoia. Am I really a pun-ariah whom every wants pun-ished?”

“Not to pun-t too fine a pun-t on it, but now you should leave at pun-ce!”

“Pun-k you for your pun-vice. I shall leave at pun-ce.”

 

On Niall Ferguson

Ferguson is considered one of the best current historians. He has written a new book called Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe that he was promoting yesterday in an interview with a D.C. bookstore (you can watch it on YouTube). He works at Stanford University now but is originally Scottish.

I have not read his new book yet but just watched the hour-long interview he did for it. A few thoughts. He talks about Covid-19 and natural disasters like earthquakes, exploding volcanoes, and plagues. (A somewhat frivolous thought: He looks remarkably young for someone in his late 50s, like a twin of Morrissey from The Smiths). He makes a distinction between natural disasters and man-made ones like wars and financial crises. Well, people are part of nature, but I agree with the distinction.

The only thing that bothered me about the interview is that both Ferguson and the interviewer repeatedly used the term “pandemic” for Covid-19.  The term is a bugbear for me. I know a lot of people have died from the virus, but that always happens; people die from flu all the time. It is sad but true. And I don’t think it was a reason for authorities to take as many overly stringent measures as they did. Ferguson noted that Taiwan and South Korea were especially good in their response to the virus, possibly because they have “general paranoia” about being neighbors of the People’s Republic of China. He seemed to think war with China is a real threat, even if only “cyber-warfare.” I don’t think a physical war is going to happen.

Two quotes

“We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine [a person’s] features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrue them.” — Henry David Thoreau

I have not read all of Walden, but I think what Thoreau is talking about has to do with the concept of physiognomy, the idea popular in the 19th century that your moral character can affect your physical appearance. “Imbrue” means to stain.

“We are not lacking in the dynamic forces needed to create the future. We live immersed in a sea of energy beyond all comprehension.” –Thomas Berry

According to Wikipedia, Berry was “a cultural historian and scholar [in the late 20th and early 21st centuries] of the world’s religions, especially Asian traditions.” Regarding this quote, I think one of the hardest things in life is to control your own energy. And sometimes that means controlling your anger. The post-punk group PIL has a well-known song with the line, “anger is an energy.”

“Pun-t” by yours truly

“Sir, I want to pun-t you across the football field right now!”

“Ahh, this has been revealed, signed and sealed. You would like to pun-t me through hell?”

“Well, yeah, you pun-ster.”

“Okay, just don’t pun-t me in the balls. That can be very pun-ful.”

“I’ll do whatever I pun-t.”

“And you may want me to get the pun out again?”

“Pun-t of fact: Yes. You pun-k!”

“Your words make me pun-sive. I’ll have to think about them.”

“We sir are done. Run! Or I may have to get out my pun and shoot you with it.”

“This conversation needs another pun-cuation mark.”

“!”

“Magoo” by yours truly

“Oh no Mr. Magoo! Oh no Mr. Magoo!

Not all Christian boys envy you.

It’s not what you say; it’s what you do.

Careful ’cause you could be punished too.

Put in a pun cell for life; the problem is rife.

Too bad you could not find a wife.”

“Line” by yours truly

“We are not lying and not lying when we say that.

Lying is not in a liar’s nature; that is for sure.

I know this may seem like torture.

But, here, have a pill; it could be a cure.

And be sure not to cross the lyin’ again.

It would make us cross.”

“Oh.”

 

“Pun-onstration” by yours truly

“Puns’ lives matter! Puns’ lives matter!”

“Yes, they do, but it is time you scatter.”

“Do you think us crazy as the Mad Hatter?”

“Let’s just stop the chitter-chatter.”

“Ra-PUN-zel, let down your hair!”

“Eh, see if I care.”

“Pun Damage” by yours truly

“Do you need a pun-onstration of the damage your punning has done?”

“No, I need none, Dr. Pun.”

“You may need to be pun-stitutionalized, put in a pun cell forever, and repeatedly pun-ished for what you have done!”

“Do you want to pun-ch me again? It would not be a sin.”

“The judge may decide you should be pun-strated.”

“A pun-stration? That could hurt. I am sensitive there. Don’t envy my pun, even if pun is envy.”

“We sir are done. Run!”

More on Stephen King’s The Institute

Another excerpt from the midpoint of the novel:

“This was no dream, it was really happening, and to get out of here no longer seemed enough.”

The novel has to do with institutional torture of a pre-adolescent boy. James Joyce wrote in his famous novel Ulysses that “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.” After World War I, Joyce, like W.B. Yeats, seemed to anticipate that there was worse to come. Ireland was largely outside of continental politics, and outsiders sometimes have a better perspective on things.

 

 

“Pun-maniac” by yours truly

“I am not a pun-maniac! Don’t beat me again or put physical restraints on me.”

“But it is pun-fully true: you were acting odd, Mr. Magoo.”

“Yes, but I have punned through a lot lately.”

“Oh, so you think the pun-ishment does not fit the crime?”

“Not all the time, Dr. Pun.”

“What about eternal youth, you pun-ce?”

“Yes, Puns de Leon was a real historical person.”

“Keep it to yourself and your rhyme, you pun-ster. And get the pun out of here!”

“But the door is locked once again, and the windows won’t open either! This makes  no pun-se.”

More on The Great Gatsby

“Most affections conceal something eventually, even though they don’t in the beginning… She was incurably dishonest and wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage. [Nick Carraway,the narrator, says to his crush, Jordan Baker, a young flapper]: ‘You ought to be more careful.’ [Baker responds]; ‘I am careful.’ ‘No, you’re not.’ ‘Well, other people are. It takes two to make an accident.'”

Apparently, F. Scott Fitzgerald partied a lot, and it may be one reason he dropped out of college. If you are single, I think partying is okay. You can learn from people as well as from books. But Fitzgerald also worked very hard too and produced a lot of written work. His marriage was tragic, but he seemed to have been a good father to his child and a moralist.