As much as the world seems like a giant crap sandwich with a moldy dill pickle on the side, just keep in mind that you learned to weave magic from tobacco and tombstones. The American Bystander is your magic. Great magic to those who know it and know you.
What a delightful piece of writing. Thank you Michael.
I noticed, in one of your replies, mention that you would be wearing a Windsor knot. My wife opines that perhaps a Yale man would opt for a half-Windsor.
I think she makes a good point as a Windsor bespeaks a respect, comfort, and knowledge in sartorial matters, but that a half-Windsor would relate a very subtle insouciance that welcomes the slightest bit of both iconoclasm and a departure from the doctrinaire!
Neal, your wife will be happy to know that until recently, I wore a "Prince of Wales" knot, which is basically a four-in-hand with an extra time round the front; I am short and need a little less length. I learned the four-in-hand while at Yale!
But I found that I didn't like the asymmetry of the knot, so I'm going through a Windsor phase. I like to try new knots, get expert at them, and then move on to the next.
Christmas is indeed a time for ghosts, and your afterlife wish seems to me a completely worthwhile ambition. Thank you for this in-depth reverie. My college madeleine would be an item from Pizza Bob's, or two doors north, Pizza Bob's Uptown. In Bob we trust.
You will have to take me there, I would like that. I feel most at home in any college town. And someday I will return the favor at Sally's or Pepe's, your choice.
Well, Liltherland Town Hall is now an NHS site, but as you know, I am in possession of the actual functional key to St. Peter's Church Hall.... just sayin'.
I loved this -- thank you so much; and sorry to hear of your depression.
I was a very similar boy; only five years older, I spent my college years smoking a pipe and obsessed with Victoriana and history. (Ended up writing comic novels as well, oddly enough!) Our similar aesthetic and love for history brings us close together (while politically, I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum: I think your 'side' is erasing the history we both love so much and we need more people like Elon Musk, not fewer!), I wish you nothing but continued happiness and success.
@Bob, thank you so much for your kindness and your political generosity. A very Merry Christmas to you.
You might be happy to know that roughly sixty Yale students a year join The Record, and through it learn all about Yale's history. Last year's Publisher told me that "it's terribly popular, because it's the only piece of Old Yale that accepts you just as you are." A majority of the staff is female, and there are many POC on it--and all of them now look back with a little less alienation, and perhaps a little more sense of how much good there is in that Old White Guy culture. The Record men I met from the 30s, 40s, and 50s were the best of Yale. I try, and mostly fail, to come up to their standard.
I think this is the way to preserve the history that you and I love -- to OPEN IT UP, and trust that its flaws and its virtues will be weighed fairly by those in the future. That was my gamble--my guess, really--in 1989, and it seems to have paid off. I am a deeply, deeply conservative person, which is why I am so liberal. The old ways must be preserved not as a method of domination, but as something to be built on, improved, with a place for all at the table. Humility, charity, duty--as a non-Christian, this to me is Christ's Christmas. And at its best, Old Yale's too.
So sorry to hear about the depression, Mike! I won't say anything too blithe here - that stuff just plain sucks - but I do wish you well and hope you come out of the trough soon.
Thank you, Mark -- I have a feeling I am in the middle of a great and necessary transformation; I just need to be patient, have faith, and concentrate on service to others.
I certainly hope that's all true, yes. Will be sending positive vibes your way!
One other thing: it's extremely disheartening to learn of all those lost messages of yours. I deeply regret that you and others can't go back and dig through what must have been an incredibly fecund period for you. I used to tell people that I figured the future historians looking at our times would have the exact opposite problem to that of the historians of ancient civilizations: where that group has to extrapolate from a very small set of data, the historians looking at the 1990s and early 2000s would instead be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of materials available, all those electronic communications. But, of course, I was being too optimistic about just how thoroughly those were going to be stored. Back to typewriters, back to quill pens, back to carving in stone tablets, I guess.
Yes, I particularly felt the loss last year, when I was assembling an institutional archive for The Yale Record Corporation (our alumni 501(c)3). So much work was done by so many from 1998-2003 or so, and all of it has been lost. So much discussion about what we were attempting here, the best way to do it. The very marrow of History -- albeit of a minor institution -- and certainly stuff of interest to Record folk 100 years from now. I assembled what I could, but it was sketchy until 2012 or so.
Hi Michael - Sorry to hear about this bout of depression. As per the title of the Cheech and Chong movie, 'Things Are Tough All Over' in the USA nowadays (and, well, most of the planet). It would seem most people are feeling that - not much cause for optimism extrapersonally. Clearly, depression can have manifold factors, and writing about it in text messagey chunks only scratches the surface. But, whatever the factors, hope that whatever you're doing to work thru it - socially, personally, outwardly, inwardly, holistically, recklessly, humorously, foolishly, clinically, uncynically - not only allows it to dispel relatively quickly, but also leads to a new efflorescence and synthesis. Wishing you good holidays & a creative and prosperous New Year
As much as the world seems like a giant crap sandwich with a moldy dill pickle on the side, just keep in mind that you learned to weave magic from tobacco and tombstones. The American Bystander is your magic. Great magic to those who know it and know you.
Amen and huzzah and boola boola (that's Yale, right?)
ER, thank you! And to cheer up, I am wearing the lovely Xmas present you sent -- the King Kong tie, with a windsor knot!
Thank you my friend --
When I saw those ties in the vintage shop, they screamed your name. I'm glad they cheered you up.
What a delightful piece of writing. Thank you Michael.
I noticed, in one of your replies, mention that you would be wearing a Windsor knot. My wife opines that perhaps a Yale man would opt for a half-Windsor.
I think she makes a good point as a Windsor bespeaks a respect, comfort, and knowledge in sartorial matters, but that a half-Windsor would relate a very subtle insouciance that welcomes the slightest bit of both iconoclasm and a departure from the doctrinaire!
Neal, your wife will be happy to know that until recently, I wore a "Prince of Wales" knot, which is basically a four-in-hand with an extra time round the front; I am short and need a little less length. I learned the four-in-hand while at Yale!
But I found that I didn't like the asymmetry of the knot, so I'm going through a Windsor phase. I like to try new knots, get expert at them, and then move on to the next.
Christmas is indeed a time for ghosts, and your afterlife wish seems to me a completely worthwhile ambition. Thank you for this in-depth reverie. My college madeleine would be an item from Pizza Bob's, or two doors north, Pizza Bob's Uptown. In Bob we trust.
You will have to take me there, I would like that. I feel most at home in any college town. And someday I will return the favor at Sally's or Pepe's, your choice.
My RX for your ennui is a night at the Cavern. I propose that you accompany me on my next trip to Liverpool. Give it some thought... ?
Oh Faith, this is such a lovely thing, coming from you. Perhaps someday I shall meet you at the Litherland Town Hall.
Well, Liltherland Town Hall is now an NHS site, but as you know, I am in possession of the actual functional key to St. Peter's Church Hall.... just sayin'.
I loved this -- thank you so much; and sorry to hear of your depression.
I was a very similar boy; only five years older, I spent my college years smoking a pipe and obsessed with Victoriana and history. (Ended up writing comic novels as well, oddly enough!) Our similar aesthetic and love for history brings us close together (while politically, I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum: I think your 'side' is erasing the history we both love so much and we need more people like Elon Musk, not fewer!), I wish you nothing but continued happiness and success.
A great piece; it made my day.
@Bob, thank you so much for your kindness and your political generosity. A very Merry Christmas to you.
You might be happy to know that roughly sixty Yale students a year join The Record, and through it learn all about Yale's history. Last year's Publisher told me that "it's terribly popular, because it's the only piece of Old Yale that accepts you just as you are." A majority of the staff is female, and there are many POC on it--and all of them now look back with a little less alienation, and perhaps a little more sense of how much good there is in that Old White Guy culture. The Record men I met from the 30s, 40s, and 50s were the best of Yale. I try, and mostly fail, to come up to their standard.
I think this is the way to preserve the history that you and I love -- to OPEN IT UP, and trust that its flaws and its virtues will be weighed fairly by those in the future. That was my gamble--my guess, really--in 1989, and it seems to have paid off. I am a deeply, deeply conservative person, which is why I am so liberal. The old ways must be preserved not as a method of domination, but as something to be built on, improved, with a place for all at the table. Humility, charity, duty--as a non-Christian, this to me is Christ's Christmas. And at its best, Old Yale's too.
Beautiful. Sad and beautiful and full of Truth. Thanks, amigo, and Merry Christmas.
Hope the depression is as temporary as an email and you are whistling past that graveyard once again.
@Mark, I'd like to have lunch with you the next time I'm in Vegas. One of my favorite towns.
That would be swell.
So sorry to hear about the depression, Mike! I won't say anything too blithe here - that stuff just plain sucks - but I do wish you well and hope you come out of the trough soon.
Thank you, Mark -- I have a feeling I am in the middle of a great and necessary transformation; I just need to be patient, have faith, and concentrate on service to others.
I certainly hope that's all true, yes. Will be sending positive vibes your way!
One other thing: it's extremely disheartening to learn of all those lost messages of yours. I deeply regret that you and others can't go back and dig through what must have been an incredibly fecund period for you. I used to tell people that I figured the future historians looking at our times would have the exact opposite problem to that of the historians of ancient civilizations: where that group has to extrapolate from a very small set of data, the historians looking at the 1990s and early 2000s would instead be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of materials available, all those electronic communications. But, of course, I was being too optimistic about just how thoroughly those were going to be stored. Back to typewriters, back to quill pens, back to carving in stone tablets, I guess.
Yes, I particularly felt the loss last year, when I was assembling an institutional archive for The Yale Record Corporation (our alumni 501(c)3). So much work was done by so many from 1998-2003 or so, and all of it has been lost. So much discussion about what we were attempting here, the best way to do it. The very marrow of History -- albeit of a minor institution -- and certainly stuff of interest to Record folk 100 years from now. I assembled what I could, but it was sketchy until 2012 or so.
Hi Michael - Sorry to hear about this bout of depression. As per the title of the Cheech and Chong movie, 'Things Are Tough All Over' in the USA nowadays (and, well, most of the planet). It would seem most people are feeling that - not much cause for optimism extrapersonally. Clearly, depression can have manifold factors, and writing about it in text messagey chunks only scratches the surface. But, whatever the factors, hope that whatever you're doing to work thru it - socially, personally, outwardly, inwardly, holistically, recklessly, humorously, foolishly, clinically, uncynically - not only allows it to dispel relatively quickly, but also leads to a new efflorescence and synthesis. Wishing you good holidays & a creative and prosperous New Year
Grazie -- I am looking forward to the arrival of Befana on January 5th.