Jewish World Review Oct. 19, 2001 / 2 Mar-Cheshvan 5762
Bill Tammeus
Just getting caught up
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
Like nearly everyone else, I've fallen ridiculously far behind on everything
in my life. I was barely keeping up even before life changed on Sept. 11.
Since then, I've abandoned hope of ever catching up.
Well, except in one area --- returning phone messages and answering the
mail. I have devised a fabulously clever way to get back up to speed in that
part of my existence. I will simply fill my otherwise empty newspaper column
space with replies. Believe me, if I didn't use today's column to catch up
on mail, the space would be empty.
Now, you don't need to tune out here. You may find that I'm returning a
note or call from you. Or, if not, you may learn that when you perform this
kind of work yourself, you don't need to take up page after page with
flowery words just to say thanks or to turn down an invitation to invest in
frozen squirrel futures. You may, like me, be brief, but ever so polite.
Here goes: -
Dave: We enjoyed the birthday party for your brother. Thanks. He seems
to have regained consciousness now. Do you want him back?
- Thad: I spent the $0.00 honorarium before I was halfway home. Thanks
for doubling it to that.
- Anne: I admire your persistence, but the only way I'd be back in school
when I'm your age is if they're studying me.
- Ernest: Remind me again what a duckbill is, why you want one and why
you think I have one handy to send to you.
- Mandy: You may well be right that the Cubs' main problem this past
season had to do with the G-word. (Readers: You won't get all of these.)
- Ruth: Really, I was just kidding about letting you out of the car at
the country club's bag drop.
- Mary Ann: Thanks for the clips. If we hadn't stayed awake in journalism
school, we'd have had to look for real jobs by now.
- L.J.: I deeply appreciated the corn bread. In fact, I'm thinking of
handing out what's left of it as Halloween treats.
- Catherine: Another reason I won't be available to help you out this
Sunday is that I'll be celebrating Dizzy Gillespie's birthday. Well,
Dizzie's 94th and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 229th. Somebody has to.
- Kate: I have no idea. Try www.whatisthepoint.com.
- Stuart: You were kind to show us around. Thanks. If you find any
unexpected loose change on your floors, it's mine. Just write me a check for
the amount.
- DeWain: Maybe squirrel futures really are the answer. Check them out
(and frozen hummingbird bellies, too) and get back to me.
- Kathy: It's Tammeus, not Tanner. And, by the way, what are you in for
and how long is your sentence?
- Mike: Thanks for the video. But who was that old-looking guy with the
gray hair claiming to be me?
- Pete: Another idea might be to hold bake sales (or, more appropriate
for our group, half-baked sales) at our annual conferences. Put it on the
executive board's agenda along with the cow chip idea.
- Edna: Great story. I've often thought that the best way to go would be
to get planted in a '57 Chevy, which I liked better than your '56 model.
- George: I'm pleased that you noticed my "strange and offensive ideas,"
as you called them. I've never yet had readers respond to what they
considered ordinary and bland ideas.
If I didn't get you answered today, well, consider it your lucky
day.
Comment on JWR contributor Bill Tammeus' column by clicking here.
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08/27/01: When waste in space is a waste of space
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08/03/01: Recognizing the limits of one's capacity
07/27/01: We are more than the sum of our work days
07/12/01: Some stars, like some people, never shine
07/11/01: Our deeply embedded need for order
07/03/01: Not-so-famous tour explores not-so-rich neighborhoods
06/28/01: Driven to tell the truth about golf and government
06/25/01: When poetry becomes destructive
06/21/01: We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a word from deep space
06/14/01: Theory of revolution explains why some things get lost
06/11/01: Shamanic gewgaws
06/06/01: Charity begins at homes with lemonade stands
05/30/01: When are wars worth dying in?
05/23/01: Cruising along that bumpy highway
05/09/01: If you're in the write mood, wish the U.S. happy birthday
05/07/01: Killing McVeigh will wound us all
05/01/01: Dubya reinforcing negative GOP stereotypes?
Reprinted by permission, The Kansas City Star, Copyright 2001. All rights reserved
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