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Getting to know Margaret
I always buy my Tshirts at JC Penney
GodBless Mississippi
After a retreat from writing blog posts and Duluth Reader columns (for the most part) in the last gasp of the wicked witch of the East Wing I may be prepared to resume. Above are three titles I would be happy to write for the Reader. OR some of them may be the start of a more biographic/political phase of writing leading up to throwing my hat in the ring as a Democrat for Congress…only this time with a more vigorous pursuit of change than this last election.
The first title “Getting to Know Margaret” is such a story on the biographic spectrum. I have long thought that my columns yearned to be short pamplets at least but that I winnowed them down Reader’s Digest like into 800 word columns. As the Reader has shrunk in size and font older 900 and 1000 word columns could no longer fit the page without squeezing out the advertising that makes the Reader sustainable.
There is much more I could have said than I put in the column back in April 21, 2022. I made a discovery when I searched for the column online. A google search couldn’t find it even when I told them to search the Duluth Reader page. When that search failed I turned to my blog where I usually devote a short post to sharing a link with the column I’ve written for the Reader. I like to direct my readers to the Reader for two reasons. After my return to the Reader the editors have maintained a page with my columns listed in order. On occassion they don’t include them when an editor has gone on vacation. So, I have had to keep track of my growinglist of columns as well. I never noticed that 4/21/2022 got missed in the list. I found it when I went to the Reader site and typed in the column name. Here it is.
I have copied the column pasted it into a page where I intend to add to it and subject it to an AI inspection for typos and other shortcommings. It is only in the last two years that I have gotten into the habit of having my better half review my text. Looking back at Getting to Know now I see some myself. Perspective is easier with time.
As for the other two column titles GodBless Mississippi should serve as my take on the recent election which I have been waiting for twice. The four years since the 2016 election and the ten years since that gave us a brief reprieve from Trump and the much dreaded return.
Like every other fan of the Indivisible movement I waited for Trump’s cummupance in the midterms this year with baited breath. My chief difference with 99% of my allies has been my suspicion that the only way to rid ourselves of Trumpism was to let the bastard have a second chance at overthrowing our democracy. I was sure it could only be saved by letting Donald Trump disappoint and even alienate his cultish followers.
Yes I danced giddily on his not quite apparent grave the night of the election. My first whimisical title for a column on the night was: “We have Met the Enemy and he is us.” That’s a take on my era’s famous Pogo Cartoon.
My take was “We have met the enema and he is Trump.” Not bad but juvenile and a little to dancing on the gravyish. It was replaced by my astonishment at one of the night’s most electrifying results. The likely election of a black Minnesota Governor. My reaction was the same as the nation’s first black democrat state governor, L. Douglass Wilder, the ancient, 95 year old, Virginia Governor who was elected in 1989 the year after Ronald Reagan retired.
That will be the most hopeful column I will have written for the Reader in a very long time as it portends the evaporation of Donald Trump’s regime.
The final column title came to me as I folded the dozen Vietnamese made Hanes Tshirts I just bought at JC Penneys.
With luck I’ll write a rough draft of all three of them before this Sunday is over.
This is my AI enhanced/corrected version of this post. I will try to have the corrections underlined but if they don’t transfer I probably won’t take time to do add them myself.
NOTE evidently there were numerous mistakes but, despite my asking several times for underlines, Gemini failed to add them. This is their corrected version which I will not bother to review:
Getting to know Margaret
I always buy my T-shirts at J.C. Penney
God Bless Mississippi
After a retreat from writing blog posts and Duluth Reader columns (for the most part) in the last gasp of the Wicked Witch of the East Wing, I may be prepared to resume. Above are three titles I would be happy to write for the Reader. Or some of them may be the start of a more biographical/political phase of writing leading up to throwing my hat in the ring as a Democrat for Congress… only this time with a more vigorous pursuit of change than in this last election.
The first title, “Getting to Know Margaret,” is such a story on the biographical spectrum. I have long thought that my columns yearned to be short pamphlets at least, but that I winnowed them down Reader’s Digest-like into 800-word columns. As the Reader has shrunk in size and font, older 900- and 1,000-word columns could no longer fit the page without squeezing out the advertising that makes the Reader sustainable.
There is much more I could have said than I put in the column back on April 21, 2022. I made a discovery when I searched for the column online. A Google search couldn’t find it, even when I told it to search the Duluth Reader page. When that search failed, I turned to my blog, where I usually devote a short post to sharing a link to the column I’ve written for the Reader. I like to direct my readers to the Reader for two reasons. After my return to the Reader, the editors have maintained a page with my columns listed in order. On occasion, they don’t include them when an editor has gone on vacation. So, I have had to keep track of my growing list of columns as well. I never noticed that 4/21/2022 got missed in the list. I found it when I went to the Reader site and typed in the column name. Here it is.
I have copied the column and pasted it into a page where I intend to add to it and subject it to an AI inspection for typos and other shortcomings. It is only in the last two years that I have gotten into the habit of having my better half review my text. Looking back at “Getting to Know Margaret” now, I see some errors myself. Perspective is easier with time.
As for the other two column titles, “God Bless Mississippi” should serve as my take on the recent election, which I have been waiting for twice. The four years since the 2016 election and the ten years since then gave us a brief reprieve from Trump and the much-dreaded return.
Like every other fan of the Indivisible movement, I waited for Trump’s comeuppance in the midterms this year with bated breath. My chief difference with 99% of my allies has been my suspicion that the only way to rid ourselves of Trumpism was to let the bastard have a second chance at overthrowing our democracy. I was sure it could only be saved by letting Donald Trump disappoint and even alienate his cultish followers.
Yes, I danced giddily on his not-quite-apparent grave the night of the election. My first whimsical title for a column on the night was: “We have Met the Enemy and he is us.” That’s a take on my era’s famous Pogo cartoon.
My take was, “We have met the enema and he is Trump.” Not bad, but juvenile and a little too dancing on the grave side. It was replaced by my astonishment at one of the night’s most electrifying results: the likely election of a Black Minnesota governor. My reaction was the same as the nation’s first Black Democratic state governor, L. Douglas Wilder, the ancient 95-year-old Virginia governor who was elected in 1989, the year after Ronald Reagan retired.
That will be the most hopeful column I will have written for the Reader in a very long time as it portends the evaporation of Donald Trump’s regime.
The final column title came to me as I folded the dozen Vietnamese-made Hanes T-shirts I just bought at J.C. Penney’s.
With luck, I’ll write a rough draft of all three of them before this Sunday is over.
This is my AI-enhanced/corrected version of this post. I will try to have the corrections underlined, but if they don’t transfer, I probably won’t take time to add them myself.
Would you like me to help you flesh out the outlines or write the drafts for the other two columns (“God Bless Mississippi” or the J.C. Penney essay) today?
