Let’s Write a Novel Chapter 4, Paragraphs 1 and 2

Der Engel verhindert die Opferung Isaaks
(An angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac)

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, 1634

Hermitage, St. Petersburg

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Note: The novel from the start can be found by clicking on Lets Write a Novel , my associated blog. Some corrections and changes appear there as well as some notes and questions I need to address. As you have no doubt noticed, writing a novel is, at least for me, a bit ragged.

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101 North Washington Street.

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Chapter 4, Paragraphs 1 and 2

וַיִּצֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים מִן-הָאֲדָמָה, כָּל-חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה וְאֵת כָּל-עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם, וַיָּבֵא אֶל-הָאָדָם, לִרְאוֹת מַה-יִּקְרָא-לוֹ; ְכֹל אֲשֶׁר

יִקְרָא-לוֹ הָאָדָם נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, הוּא שְׁמוֹ.

Genesis 2:19
And the LORD God formed out of the Earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each creature, that would be its name.

¶1
Shortly after Abraham was born he was given the name of the father of Judaism (and Christianity and Islam). And Sara’s name, of course, was from Sarah, the wife of the original Abraham and the mother of Judaism and Christianity. (Hagar is the mother of Islam.) Jews are the people of the book. Words, and most especially names, are filled with ancient history and meanings, special meanings, complex, hidden, superstitious, poetic, allegorical. All children ponder their own names, trying to tease out their parent’s secret expectations, the special destiny or fate connected with the name. It probably was not entirely coincidental that Sara married Abraham and that their parents were pleased with union and the special significance of the joining of these 2 names.

¶2
According to the Book, the first man gave the name woman to his fitting helper created by God from man’s rib. Most all the people of the Book understand that their Book’s stories and names and words are rich with many meanings and great significances. The idea of a plain reading, a literal interpretation, of the book would be exceedingly ignorant. After all, man hasn’t one less rib than woman. (However odd it may be that many of their Christian cousins believe as such, despite x-rays to the contrary).

Let’s Write a Novel Chapter 3, Conclusion

John Everett Millais, 1829 - 1896
Ophelia, 1852
Tate Gallery London

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Note: The novel from the start can be found by clicking on Lets Write a Novel , my associated blog. Some corrections and changes appear there as well as some notes and questions I need to address. As you have no doubt noticed, writing a novel is, at least for me, a bit ragged. This little bit cost me a lot of grief as it introduces the heroine, if only her name.

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101 North Washington Street
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Chapter 3, Conclusion

¶7
Today, in 2007, Starke Center’s finest knows how many pickles Peter Piper picked, however knowing what a peck actually is proves more elusive. In 1907 Starke Center’s finest not only knew how many pickles were picked, but even what a peck was. More impressively they knew a little about Plutarch, Petrarch, Plato, Pliny, Pindar, and perhaps (the perverse) even knew Petronius. There is a cultural gulf or chasm between us and them, difficult for us to fathom. Then Chautaqua was all the rage. Especially in rural communities there was a hunger for learning and culture. Classics and Great Books with 10-year study guides were marketed to the Lady’s (even some men’s) Reading Societies. Concerts and lectures were widely appreciated and attended. So it was considered agreeable, even good, that Mr. Fritz Leiber did a bit of lecturing to supplement the acting. It made the scenes that much more enjoyable. Fritz did 3 different takes on “Alas, poor Yorick!” with Hamlet growing more mad each rendition. So the audience’s expectations were trebly gratified.

¶8
Mr. Leiber and Miss Drew cleverly adapted Queen Gertrude’s description of Ophelia’s drowning. Ethel, as Ophelia, danced gracefully onto the stage. Ophelia’s impossibly long and curly blond tresses were a Pre-Raphaelite daydream. Cascades of flowers and ivies were entwined in her hair and trailed down her beautifully full (10 yards of seeded batiste), luxuriant nightgown. Leiber, still attired as Hamlet, stood just on stage and in melodious voice began,

“There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples….”

Onstage was a simple set. A willow with flowering vine overhanging a mirrored brook. Ophelia stretched over the brook grasping the slim willow bough as the voice continued…

“There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide..”

The audience gasped in sympathy as poor Ophelia fell into the clutches of the brook. Her hair spread gloriously over the mirror as she the began to quietly sing bits of folk songs.

“And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element: but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.”

It might be stated with some hyperbole that, “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house”. In any case, Sara Weiss was quite touched, as we shall soon see.

¶9
Later that evening, upstairs at 101 North Washington Street as Mr. And Mrs. Weiss prepared for bed, Sara jolted poor unsuspecting Abraham as she quietly said, “If it’s a girl, I shall name her Ophelia.” And that, my dear reader, is how my poor mother, received her rather sad name.

Lawyers I Have Known and Hated, Part 1

The Starke County Election Board has asked for an emergency appropriation for legal expenses to defend themselves against Mayor Dennis Estok. The County will have to pay a Valparaiso law firm $200.00 per hour.

Starke Circuit Court Judge Hall has recused himself from the case. This is appropriate and I applaud the Judge for taking this sensible and correct action.

Meanwhile, Estok, henceforth to be called Idiot-Mayor and his attorney, Bedrock, henceforth to be called Idiot-Lawyer, have ‘refined’ their ‘case’. Why I call these two characters idiots is that they think their case actually has merit. It seems Estok (oops! I mean Idiot-Mayor) and Idiot-Lawyer (OK! Now I’m hitting on all 1 cylinder) BELIEVE, deep in their parsimonious skulls, that Idiot-Mayor somehow got screwed in the election. My God! The supposed ‘refinement’ of the legal geniuses is that now they do not accuse their enemy and political opponent Mr. Chambers of torturing old folks in the nursing home or otherwise twisting people’s arms to intimidate these innocent and presumably simple-minded voting folks. Now they claim that voters were encouraged by nefariously hazy unidentified Chambers’ advocates of illegally voting absentee.

Idiot-Mayor and Idiot-Lawyer read on the “Application for Absentee Ballot” the following. “I [the absentee voter] have a specific, reasonable expectation of being absent from the county on election day during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.” There are 9 other reasons listed on the absentee ballot as well. The voter needs to check off one of these reasons. So I suppose that the absentee voters most likely read these reasons. Then they have to sign the form “under penalty of perjury”. There is also a place on the form for those nefarious people that assist a person filling out the Absentee Ballot Application. The penalty is quite severe for screwing around. The punishment is "perjury AND Class D felony" (3 years and $10 grand). OK that’s clear as can be, isn’t it? It doesn’t say that if you cheat the election will be invalid does it?

Most of us understand that the United States, the State of Indiana, and the Starke County Election Commission have actually been encouraging absentee voting as a means of increasing voter turnout. Allow me to quote from a press release dated October 17, 2003 from Todd Rokita, Indiana Secretary of State: “And now you can vote absentee for any reason at all if you are willing to stop by the county clerk’s office during any of the 30 days before election day.” And I have already mentioned in a previous blog, if election laws were broken, as these idiots are claiming, then they have a duty to report that fraud to ol’ Todd mentioned above. Here is a little assistance from me to these 2 idiots: They can get the official Election Fraud and Grievance Form online at http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/hava/pdf/grievance.pdf from the Indiana Secretary of State. Why don’t they do that and save the taxpayers of Starke County about $50,000 in attorney fees? Morons!

I do have a suggestion to the Starke County Election Board. They need stop this rotten, stupid BS right now. I think a suit for bringing a frivolous action is very appropriate. An ethics and incompetence complaint to the Indiana Bar Association might make sense as well. Let Idiot-Mayor and Idiot-Lawyer risk a little something in this lawsuit, not just the taxpayers.

Let’s Write a Novel Chapter 3, Paragraphs 5 and 6

.................Kenneth Branagh and poor Yorick...............
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Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”:
I'll bet you can't finish this quote by providing the last word in the sentence:
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him.........:
Click here and Scoll down to "Interests" for the answer.

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Note: The novel from the start can be found by clicking on Lets Write a Novel , my associated blog. Some corrections and changes appear there as well as some notes and questions I need to address. As you have no doubt noticed, writing a novel is, at least for me, a bit ragged.


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101 North Washington Street

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Chapter 3, Paragraphs 5 and 6

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¶5
The Weiss and Warner Opera House was located above the Weiss Department Store. Abraham Weiss and Tom Werner erected the building, the grandest on Main Street, fully intending the dual use. The Opera House, on the 2nd floor and its balcony, was well booked. There were regular dances and many traveling troupes providing a fair range of entertainments. The downtown Starke Center railroad station with service from Chicago to Fort Wayne and beyond was only a short walk from the opera house and the Nickel Plate Hotel and Restaurant. It was a logical stop for entertainment ventures with a free day on their hands, either coming out of Chicago or on their way to the country’s 2nd city.

¶6

The weather having turned a bit blustery, Abe and Sara accepted the short ride to “Impressions from the Bard” in the Werner’s carriage. The crowd settled in expecting to be well entertained. In those days the wonderment and charm of the theater was more easily attainable. Entrancing the audience didn’t require elaborate sets, costumes, or ultra realistic effects. Reasonably talented acting and presentation did the trick. The audience was quite familiar with Shakespeare. The “Complete Works” were in many households and the book wasn’t being used as a decorative accessory on the coffee table. It was read; read in school and at home; and enjoyed, (which I understand is quite hard to believe in this day and age). This audience, that unsettled spring evening in Starke Center, expected and knew that they would receive a familiar mediation on life’s frailty from a handsome young Prince Hamlet, on a fresh grave with poor Yorick’s rotted skull in hand. They were speculating aloud as to what else might be in store when the house lights dimmed, a thunder sheet rumbled, and they quickly schussed or were schussed.

Let’s Write a Novel Chapter 3, Paragraph 3 – 4

Note: The novel from the start can be found by clicking on Lets Write a Novel , my associated blog. Some corrections and changes appear there as well as some notes and questions I need to address. As you have no doubt noticed, writing a novel is, at least for me, a bit ragged.

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101 North Washington Street
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Chapter 3, Paragraphs 3 - 4
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It would be a safe bet that Abe was the only man in Starke Center possessing a Tuxedo. There was no occasion for formal wear much less the fine gradations that would later become known as white tie and black tie. These fine distinctions of fine living that were so carefully recorded in the aforementioned T & C magazine were completely irrelevant to life in the Center. It is true that Abe and Sara were prone to feeling and acting superior to their neighbors in Starke Center. From our vantage point we find it odd that they were not accused by their friends and neighbors of “putting on airs”. But it was well understood that Mr. and Mrs. Weiss were indeed superior. They had been to Europe.
Abraham Weiss had money and handled it with the ease displayed by the 2nd generation of wealth. Sara Weiss was educated, artistic, beautiful and very stylish. Anyway, the people who might care, Mrs. Werner and the other members of the Woman’s Arts Council admired the mantel of culture worn so gracefully. Envy isn’t possible when the gap is too wide. The poor don’t envy the rich. The rich envy the more rich.

I think we could skip a detailed description of dinner. Suffice it to say that Fritz and Ethel were both in the early stages of what would be good careers. They were sincerely grateful for the patronage of the Woman’s Arts Council and the free meal. They guests admired Sara’s painting and poetry. At the piano Mrs. Werner accompanied the beautiful Miss Drew singing sweetly some popular melodies. Mr. Leiber was always good at a party with his vast repertoire, from parlor magic to vaudeville. It seems so inviting and utterly pleasant doesn’t it? At least it seems so in comparison to watching “American Idol” on the television.

Expect Showers

I wondered aloud in my last blog about Mayor Estok’s lawyer. Seems it is Martin Bedrock. (I know it can be confusing but he is not an animated character from the stone age. Too bad. He could probably get a nice settlement for Wilma due to Fred’s constant abuse). He is however, consul for Knox City Council. I think he has offered legal advice to the Mayor during the Council meetings. There just seems to be something inherently wrong with a lawyer representing the Mayor in his official capacity and getting a check from the government and then also representing the mayor in an election dispute. There was a City Council seat decided in this election. If election results are thrown out as Estok seems to want, then I suppose the Council race is also invalid. Maybe there is no conflict here but I don’t like the smell of it.

Martin Bedrock is a conservative Republican. What a strange choice for a Democrat Mayor. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised to see Estok switch parties and run as a Republican in the Fall. Seems like the Republican clouds are gathering.

Poor Loser

Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”:
The Fox and the Grapes is a fable attributed to who?
Click here and Scoll down to "Interests" for the answer.

Mayor Estok surprised me. He has contested the election. He lost by 13 votes out of about 1,000. The suit seems frivolous or just plain stupid. According to The NewsHawk (I know. God Forbid! We should rely of that!) Estok said that because of the high absentee vote count, “I became uneasy about the legality of the ballots.” Well he got 94 absentees and Chambers got 156.

Newsflash to Estok: This just shows you got out hustled at the nursing home. For whatever reason Chambers was more liked by that crowd.

My reaction as a Democrat to your actions: You stink. Unless you turn up a lot more than your vague Bull Shit, all that you can possibly do is hurt the party, and hurt yourself. You shot yourself in the foot with your handling of the police matter, and the (essential) firing of Chambers for no good reason. Your instincts for self-destruction are now running in high gear. May I remind you that the Judge is a strongly partisan Republican? If he feels like damaging the Democrat Party, he will hear this case. It certainly won’t be on the merits.

I shall never again vote for you. And I urge other Democrats to follow suit.

P.S. The candidates have an opportunity to examine and challenge absentee ballots prior to their being counted. If a voter was not an eligible the challenge should have been presented to the election judge at that time. Any knowledge of illegal harassment and pressure should have caused a criminal complaint to be filed with the police and a police investigation. At this point, after the absentee ballots have been opened then mixed with the other absentee votes, it is impossible to identify any so-called illegal ballots. Even if Estok could show that there were problems, it is too late to do anything about it. He had a legal duty to prevent those so-called illegal ballots from being cast. By not doing so prior to the opening of the ballots, he assisted in the law breaking by his complacancy. Now his complaint is silly and stupid. It makes me doubt the veracity of his complaint. I wonder who his stupid attorney is anyway? What an incredible waste. It's just sour grapes.

Maybe a New Mayor

An Election Entertainment (Four Prints of an Election, Plate 1)
Click here for link to more info about the print.
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Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”:
Who is the artist of the above print? Click here and Scoll down to "Interests" for the answer.
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The recent primary election in Knox presented only 2 contested races, both races on Democrat Party ticket. His Honor, Mayor Estok, was defeated in a close contest by former Police Chief, Rick Chambers. Rich Neuburg, formerly of the Family Cafe, defeated Greg Matt, formerly of the Post office, for City Council. Both races contained a wee bit of interest to Blogger Knox Indiana. Therefore, with no further ado, I shall analyze these contests.

On April 16 I posted Sex In Our City. This was about the incompetent firing of a Knox City policeman. (Please don’t misunderstand me; the officer shouldn’t have been hired to begin with.) The piss poor administration of the city’s business concerned me. Why he was hired to begin with, why he wasn’t fired for cause earlier, and why he was fired for a very stupid cause ultimately was my interest in the matter. I wasn’t able to ascertain who exactly was responsible for the firing so I didn’t blast the Mayor. Of course the voters understand quite well that the Mayor is somehow responsible for the mess. The half dozen votes Estok needed and didn’t get certainly could be considered a consequence of this mess.

It is not a coincidence that Rick Chambers was involved in this matter. Chief Chambers refused to hire this officer when he was Chief because he didn’t regard this individual to be adequate, psychologically speaking, for the job. The rumor is that when Estok became mayor he ordered Chambers to hire this candidate for the department. Chambers refused and ultimately resigned his position as Chief and retired from the city police department, evidently under some duress.

It is my opinion that the Police Chief acted in the best interest of the police candidate, the best interest of the city, and in the best interest of Mayor Estok, when Chambers refused to hire this person. Subsequent events have proven the case: The policeman had to be fired ultimately, the city is being sued for the firing, and the Mayor lost the election because Chambers was free to run, no longer being police chief.

The reason I say in the title, Maybe a New Mayor, is that the Republicans have yet to announce their candidate for Mayor in the fall election. I suppose Estok could make a go at that. I think that would be ill advised.

The Matt vs. Neuburg race presented me, as a voter, with a Thesauri of choices: Awful. Dreadful. Terrible. Stinky. Appalling. Dire. Ghastly. Horrendous. Horrible. Shocking. PLEASE, Republicans…run somebody…ANYBODY! Pretty please. I promise to split my ticket for the first time in 40 years..

Let’s Write a Novel Chapter 3, Paragraph 1 – 2

..............Fritz Leiber, Sr. in his studio..................

Note: The novel from the start can be found by clicking on Lets Write a Novel , my associated blog.

Some corrections and changes appear there as well as some notes and questions I need to address. As you have no doubt noticed, writing a novel is, at least for me, a bit ragged. But the creation is starting to jell, at least in my imagination. I am contemplating a rewrite of Chapter 1 for obvious reasons. (It stinks).

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101 North Washington Street

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Chapter 3, Paragraph 1 - 2

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¶1
It was going to be a wonderful evening! Sara floated around the dining room double checking the table setting. Tonight they would have 4 guests, 2 couples, Marge Warner and her husband Tom and, the terribly exciting and interesting guests, Fritz Leiber the great Shakespearean actor from Chicago and his charming and talented companion, Miss Ethel Drew. Tomorrow night Mr. Leiber and Miss Drew were presenting “Impressions from the Bard” at the Reiss and Warner Opera House. The production, sponsored by the Starke Center Woman’s Arts Council, Mrs. Weiss Chairwoman and Mrs. Werner Vice-Chair, promised to be the highlight of the entertainment season in Starke Center. It certainly was a moment to savor.
¶2
Abe strolled into the room wearing his new and handsome lounge suit. Sara was quite pleased that she had convinced Abraham to acquire this bit of fine tailoring, perfect for “less formal gatherings of just a few couples”, that right off the pages of “Town and Country”. Mr. Leiber certainly would see that they weren’t all bumpkins in Starke Center. Sara had on finery equal to her husband’s, a lovely silk taffeta dress, not too formal of course. Still, this wasn’t going to be equal to an evening in New York’s Club at Tuxedo Park. Sara was pretty certain that Marge and Tom would be attired in something awfully old fashioned.

Let’s Write a Novel Chapter 2, Paragraph 4 - 5

I have started another blog called "Lets write a Novel". It contains our story thus far but is laid out from start to finish. there are also some editorial notes and questions at the end of each chapter. Click on "View My Complete My Profile" and scroll to the bottom for a link to "Lets write a Novel".

Abe’s reasoning about the lack of wealth was only partially correct. The geography of Starke Center was also to blame for lack of a street or section of fine homes. The glaciers (mentioned in the Prologue) left the windblown sand foundations of Starke Center awfully flat. The later half of her name indicates the main reason for the location of the town (crisscrossing railroad tracks another). A vast swamp, now drained by a series of muddy ditches, flowed into the Yellow River. River may be an overly generous word to describe this man-dug, arrow straight, turbid ditch but there was a generous flow of water. Starke Center sat on a low, flat sandy ridge overlooking the river and the Knox Country Club on the floodplain. This might have been the best location for a row of finer homes, as there was no other geographic attraction to compete. Unfortunately, one of the railroad lines plowed right through the length of the ridge on its was through town depriving Abraham the realization of his rather bourgeois daydream.

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Am I being a little too hard on Abraham? Perhaps. I guess now is the right time to disclose, if not “a conflict of interest”, a material fact. I’m Abraham and Sara’s granddaughter. Matter of fact, I’m their only descendent. Of course this fact inspired my ironic “Honest to God” outburst a little while back. My heart has been hardened towards Abe by the bitter story of my Mother. Of course we must let this story unfold in its due course. Our story should flow in the beautiful manner of a sensuous and sinuous river. There’s no beauty in a straight line.

Hey! I got a rise out of somebody!

The agent of the Amish Cook perhaps took my earlier blog Oxymoron: Amish Cook a little too seriously! This was posted at the Oasis Newsfeatures website this weekend:

Hmmm, Should I Be Offended or Amused?
Published on May 20, 2007 by Kevin Williams in Blog

“Okay, it's a slow blog day and while just randomly surfing through cyberspace, I stumbled upon this bizarre blog entry from a writer in the tiny town of Knox, Indiana. Apparently the writer had nothing better to do than dissect the Amish Cook's writing style, or, in her opinion, lack thereof. I always tell editors before they subscribe to the column, that Lovina's writing is never going to win a Pulitzer Prize for literary excellence, but that isn't the point of the column. The column's main mission is to connect people in today's fast-paced whirling world to a time when life was a little simpler and less materialistic. Some of the writer's points were humorous: she was correct in pointing out the double cliche. That wasn't one of Lovina's strongest journalistic moments. I wasn't quite as amused when she started making veiled references to the lack of education. With all candor, I've met many Amish who are as well-read or are as successful of a entrepreneur with their eighth grade education as I have people with college degrees. So, anyone else have any thoughts? Should I be amused at the entry? Or offended?”

You can express your opinion on the Oasis Newsfeatures Blog if you so desire. http://amishcookonline.com/index.php?p=292

Blogger Knox Indiana only wishes to say that there is such a thing as quality. To some folks quality doesn't matter nearly so much as the intent. For example they might say, "It's the thought that counts." when they have to defend bad quality. I don't think that is a valid defense for poor quality in a public, professional setting. I didn't know what degree of education the Amish tended to have, so this agent's "veiled reference" is imaginary. It was, in fact, an unveiled reference to the actual level of quality of the writing of "The Amish Cook". Although I haven't actually witnessed a well-read Amish person, I really have no doubt that it might be possible that there be such a person. Certainly Lovina does NOT rise to that description. It would be quite nice "to connect people in today's fast-paced whirling world to a time when life was a little simpler and less materialistic." But I think that statement pretty much says, "It's the thought that counts".

Let’s Write a Novel: Chapter 1, Paragraphs 5 & Chapter 2, Paragraphs 1- 3

101 North Washington Street

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Chapter 1 (conclusion)

This talk of pogroms isn’t some foreshadowing of terrible things to come in Starke Center. In fact the future was bright. The three Jewish families, merchant, junk dealer, and pickle packer, would all thrive. In this regard our story is commonplace; describing the thriving Jewish experience in small towns all across America.

Chapter 2

It was a short and pleasant walk home after closing the store. The fine spring weather coincided beautifully with a very nice take in the till. Easter was the second most important selling season at the Weiss Department Store. Good weather in the weeks leading up to Easter always inspired the shopper to dig a bit deeper in her purse. The millinery department was booming; hats were big this year, figuratively and literally. Open only 5 years and Abe was so optimistic about business that he felt financially comfortable building the finest home in town.

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Sara had made most of the decisions about the house. Although Abe had nixed the Chicago architect in favor of a South Bend firm, she got pretty much what she was after: sun rooms downstairs and upstairs, a fine library, and grand staircase in an impressive entry hall, 2 parlors, and a dining room with fireplace and leaded glass windows. It is what we would call “Prairie Style Influenced” if we wanted to project a certain priggish sophistication. We might even go on about the Art Nouveau or the Frank Lloyd Wright influence. But that is pretty much ridiculous. In fact the place was a big square house just like the few other grand big square houses in town. It had the bric-a-brac fine touches in the sconces and chandeliers and the tile around the hearth where today a realtor would discover the Prairie School influence for the benefit of a sale. A really cheesy real estate sales lady might even insinuate in a stage whisper, “Who knows, I don’t think anybody has really researched it, but this could be a genuine Frank Lloyd Wright house!”

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As Abe turned the corner onto Washington Street he could see his stucco upper story and his slate roof rising above the intervening modest clapboard dwellings of his neighbors. He thought, “It’s kind of a shame we don’t have a street or section of fine homes in Starke Center. There just isn’t enough wealth in town.” Of course that wasn’t the first time he had that thought. Those exact words were proclaimed upon several private and social occasions in the past and he was destined to repeat those exact words again, so often, as to become quite a bore on that point.

Let’s Write a Novel: Chapter 1, Paragraphs 1- 4

The novel continues….. Need I say it? Although this novel is meant to capture a certain spirit of Knox, Indiana, this is fiction.Knox and her history and her citizens are the inspiration. No person living or dead is being depicted here. Please feel free to be my editor; comment and suggest….
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101 North Washington Street

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Chapter 1, Paragraphs 1 through 4

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100 years ago there were Jews in Starke Center, Indiana. There certainly weren’t very many members of the tribe of Israel but there were more then than at present. Today in 2007, the only Jewish citizens of Starke Center are those few that intermarried with a son of the community. This invariably happened during their hot-bloodied and weak-headed college years. The offspring of these intermarriages certainly don’t worry much about any sort of religious or cultural Jewish tradition and don’t particularly stand out from the crowd of raucous or sullen children on the public school grounds. More likely than not they end up going to church on Sundays.

The 1907 census of Jews was brief. Just where the 2 rail lines crossed at the edge of town, the scrap metal and junk dealer (David) nurtured his business and family. A few miles out of town on one of those same rail lines, the potato, onion, asparagus, and pickle packer (Israel) nurtured his business and abused his family. To finish the list we must add the owner of the Weiss Department Store (Abraham) just starting a family in his quite splendid and very fashionable new home on 101 North Washington Street, a decent and sensible city block from the rails.

Always carefully considering the dangers of exciting envy, David the junkman and Israel the pickle broker each maintained a shabby lifestyle, living well below their means. Of course this care to be modest and unobtrusive about their wealth backfired, as it always has even since the enslavement in Egypt. Because they hid their wealth they were naturally branded penny-pinching, greedy Jews, the ugly killers of Christ. Somewhat ironically and entirely typically, David and Israel were always first to donate generously to the victims of fire and flood. Was this due to their natural compassion, the commandments of their religion, or the hope to throw off the Curse of Cain, the murder of Christ? The answer is no doubt a bit of all the forgoing.

Abraham Weiss was far less worried than his two brethren. The new home on Washington Street was the finest in Starke Center. Abraham’s wife Sara (Honest to God, he married a gal named Sara!) was artistic, educated and cultured. (Today we would call her artsy-fartsy.) Abraham’s family had been in America for 2 generations and Sara’s for 3. David and Israel and their wives were all immigrants. Of course there was the social gulf but the important distinction between the Weisses and the other Jewish families was their lack of fear. Abraham and Sara hadn’t had the experience of an old fashioned, ass-kicking, Russian pogrom.

Let’s Write a Novel: Prologue

By profession I am a novelist. However, enough time has passed since my last novel that I might easily be characterized as either retired or presumed dead. So I thought to myself, “Marian, you should write a novel: a Great American Kind’a Sort’a Like Knox Novel. And, Marian, you should make it part of the Knox Indiana Blog." You, dear readers, may be my editors. What follows is the prologue of a book entitled

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101 North Washington Street

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Prologue

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Landscape is too kind of a word. Most likely there is no word. It was an ocean of ice, a mile deep, uninterrupted over 100 miles to the south and a seeming infinity to the north. On 11 occasions the ice sheet, this ocean of ice, advanced and retreated over what was to become the town that is the focus of our attentions. The last retreat was a mere 10,000 years ago. That is equal to about an hour in this young planet’s history. (Oh my, that does beg the question of the appropriateness of planet “hours” being compared to advanced middle-age woman hours. However, this is a question that I mean to leave hanging for eternity.)

Regarding that first paragraph. My intentions were honorable, I meant to emulate, not copy that grandiose vision of nature that my sister Jane used to open her saga of the northern prairies of Iowa. Emulation is fair enough, certainly commonplace and often quite fruitful. After all, she won the Pulitzer and wasn’t a bit shy about ripping off the Bard himself. I clearly have failed. Ah, but the story still needs to be told. So going back a planet hour…

As one might expect, the retreating edge of the Wisconsin Glacier retreated to the north in the summer and advanced to the south in the winter. 2 steps back and 1 forward, thus was the ground that would become Starke Center revealed. The melting ice was filled with all manner of detritus carried all the way from Hudson Bay. We only need concern ourselves with the sand, windblown sand say the geologists. (Evidently there was considerable wind on the edge of a mile high sheet of ice.) This windblown sand is the foundation of Starke Center. And upon the sand Abraham Weiss built his magnificent house.

That was just a planetary 30 seconds ago, the year: 1907. And no more mention need be made of planet time.

Let’s Do a Merger!

........Robert Minor, St Louis Post-Dispatch (1908).........

Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”.
Guess how many libraries Carnegie built in Indiana: 26, 75, 96, or 165
Click here and Scoll down to "Interests" for the answer.


This is the heyday of World Capitalism: Mergers, Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts, Venture Capital Funds, Hedge Funds, Private Capital Buyouts. You name it; there’s a way to play the system for fun and profit.

Knox is the home of the main library of the Starke County Public Library System. There are 4 libraries all told with teeny-tiny branches in Koontz Lake, Hamlet, and San Pierre. The name, Starke County Public Library System, is not accurate, because, in fact it does not include all of Starke County. It excludes Wayne Township, with its own North Judson-Wayne Twp. Public Library.

So here is the Knox situation. It seems that Knox Library has 3 Professional Librarians, each one accredited in Library Science. This is truly an astoundingly fortuitous situation in light of the fact that there is a nationwide shortage of professional librarians. The Starke County system is in excellent financial condition. The staff is well paid and loyal. The main library building is in good condition with excellent technology. But they have 3 very wasteful branches. The Koontz Lake, Hamlet, and San Pierre branches have insignificant patronage and meager collections. Very large amounts of money have been wasted on computers and technology for these 3rd rate facilities. The situation is political. Appointees from the outlying townships will fight tooth and nail to keep their pathetic branch alive.

The North Judson-Wayne Twp. Public Library bit off a bit more than they could chew a few years ago. Their old Andrew Carnegie building was beautifully and extravagantly remodeled. They overbuilt, just as The Knox Schools overbuilt. Both systems have found it difficult to maintain the physical plant and quality of service on the Indiana frozen levy. North Judson Library has had to sacrifice an efficient operating budget. They have one very underpaid professional Librarian. Their collection is starving and the catalog remains off-line. When their librarian retires, they will be screwed as they have insufficient funds to recruit a new librarian.

Ah Ha! A Merger! North Judson merges with the Starke County System. San Pierre branch closes with no loss to anybody. The San Pierre budget is transferred to North Judson. North Judson acquires (basically for free) the advanced technology they can’t presently afford to bring their collection online. There are plenty of well-paid professionals. The oversize North Judson debt becomes manageable. More books, better service, less waste.

Wow what a good idea Marian! Too bad this has no chance, eh? If this was “real” money, that is not governmental “play” money, this would have happened years ago.

PS: The coming growth in Hamlet makes it quite sensible to plan to build a new library on US 30 near Grovertown and close Koontz Lake and Hamlet branches.

Announcing a Photography Exhibition

.............. Poppies, Beautiful Poppies ...............
.............. Photo by Marian Cross ...............
..... please click on image for larger view .....

My Dear Gentle Readers,

What a delightful time of year. Please consider submitting your photos to be published on this blog. You may submit anonymously, under a pen name, or even your real name. Attach your photo to an email and send to knox.indiana@hotmail.com.

Marian

How’s Our Library Doing? Part 5, Reading Lolita in Knox

Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM Weekly On-Line 1 - 7 June 2006Issue No. 797 Special.
2 young women reading about the Iranian parliamentary election of February 2000 in the leading reformist newspaper Mosharekat

My title above is a not-so-subtle reference to “Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books” (2003) by Azar Nafisi available in the Starke County Public Library’s Knox branch, the Schricker Library.

First let’s talk about “Lolita”, (1955) a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. This book provoked a storm when finally published by Olympia Press (Paris) after being turned down by the major the American Publishers. It was banned in Great Britain and France. When Putman published the book in 1958 in America it sold 100,000 copies in 3 weeks (the best seller since "Gone with the Wind" in 1936). Because Lolita has become firmly entrenched in American Culture, I assume all my readers over 40 years old have at least a vague idea about the book. And that will suffice for our purpose today. Younger readers might go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita and read all about it. The book is widely considered one of the finest novels of the 20th century. Good news: our library has it plus the other major works of Nabokov.

Now let’s talk about “Reading Lolita in Tehran”. In 1995 a brave lady, Azar Nafisi , started a secret mostly English language Literature class, just for young women, teaching the banned works of authors like Jane Austen, Henry James, Vladimir Nabokov, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Teaching this class put both the students and teacher at great peril from very violent Iranian censors. This book is a delightful read because it combines a gripping memoir with very inspiring literary criticism. And I happen to be very fond of literary criticism.

Now let’s talk about literary criticism. One wouldn’t really expect the Knox library to have much in the way of literary criticism. Books like “Lolita” hardly ever get checked out so it would be difficult for a librarian to justify buying interpretations and criticism of the text. My argument for having literary criticism on the shelf is, most would say, elitist. However I think that “Reading Lolita in Tehran” supports my point of view on this matter and I would hope that my readers would read this book and consider this point.

Wonder-of-wonders! The Knox library has an excellent little literary criticism on Lolita, “Lolita : A Janus Text” (1995) by Lance Olsen, a Twayne's masterwork study. And herein lies the point of writing all the above which, after all, has little to do with my mission to write about Knox, Indiana. There is a bookplate inside the front cover of this fine little book of scholarly literary criticism. It reads, “This Young Adult Collection Is Funded By Lilly Endowment Inc And The Starke County Community Foundation Thru [sic] a Grant To Friends Of the Library 1999”. Ah ha! So there is a story as to how we have come to have this book in our library.

Evidently in 1999 the Friends of the Library applied for and got a $15,000 grant to improve our Young Adult book collection. This windfall must have presented a difficult but pleasant problem for the librarian. After all, it is a rather narrow area of interest. As I searched the shelves I noticed that there were multiple examples of literary criticism, usually the sole text on a particular subject, that were purchased with this grant. In my opinion these particular books make our library rather exceptional in a good way.


Now for the sad part of this literary tale: The Friends of the Library no longer exists. They ceased being earlier this year, the official reason: lack of interest in the leadership positions. However, there was a great deal of interest in membership as there was no problem whatsoever getting people to join and pay their dues. So what really happened? Most libraries would fight like crazy to keep a Friends of the Library group going. The $15,000 Young Adult book grant is a great example of why. The library is a governmental unit. Organizations like the Lilly Endowment and Starke County Community Foundation to not give money to governmental agencies. They want to see non-governmental entities grow and thrive. I strongly agree with Lilly. (This idea is brilliantly expressed by Francis Fukuyama’s idea that the unique strength of our society is in its voluntary associations like churches, fraternal orders, charities, and axilluary organizations of hospitals, colleges, and even libraries. refer to, “Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity”)

So what really happened? The Friends of Starke County Public Library System met with irrational and terrible hostility from the then President of the Board of Trustees, Marilyn Swanson. She pretty much soured anybody from wanting to be a leader of the group. Happily for us not so happy for Culver Schools Ms. Swanson was off the Library Board for a couple of years when she got an appointment to the Culver School Board to fill an open spot. When she failed to get elected to that position in the following election she went back on the Library Board. So the enemy of the Friends (sounds odd doesn’t it? Well it sure as Hell is odd!) is back on the Library’s Board of Trustees. Goodbye Friends of the Library.

P.S. Those geniuses on the Knox School Board appointed Marilyn Swanson. Thanks.

Question to the Librarian and the Library Board: Why don't you get the Friends going again? Publicize and truly support it. Swanson is only one vote. Your lack of support is shameful.

That explains it.

These were 4 comments posted recently in response to Let’s ask Leonardo. I have had style, word usage, and other subtle linguistic markers in the text analyzed by the noted Forensic Linguistic Scientists, Hugh Potter and Mee Wun Lee, University of New England. These eminent scholars agree that these 4 texts were most likely written by 1 individual so should be regarded as 1 text. I will respond accordingly. Here is the text. My response shall follow.

Anonymous said... 4/30/2007 8:24 PM
how the fuck would u know knoxindiana??! ur a fucking douche bag who is too afraid to actually devulge herself and let speak what you believe. I'm sure u wouldnt say half the things you say if u weren't "anonymous", so i figure i should be too huh? Even though we all know who u r...cunt!

Anonymous said... 4/30/2007 8:37 PM
bitch you're fucked up

Anonymous said... 4/30/2007 8:37 PM
omg...this lady is fucking nuts!

Anonymous said... 4/30/2007 8:39 PM
someone needs to shut knoxindiana the fuck up! she prolly just cant get laid so she bitches about starke county all day! get a life whore!

Further forensic investigation revealed that these comments were sent from Bloomington, Indiana from Indiana University’s IP Address. (Well we are growing some brilliant scholars here in Indiana, eh?) I am unable to determine exactly what the native language of the writer actually is although it clearly isn’t English. The phrase “and let speak what you believe” seems most likely to be a pidgin from the Indonesian Archipelago or perhaps Java. However, “she prolly just cant get laid so she bitches about starke county all day” oddly seems to derive from a popular 1950’s ersatz Jamaican pop hit. (The expected “dayo, dayaayo, day da li and i wanna go ‘ome” has been left off to throw me off the scent, I think.) In any case I think it is most probable that the writer is a member of the tribe Homo floresiensis from the remote Indonesian island of Flores that I discussed very briefly in an earlier blog Under the Arches. Hugh and Lee concur. Perhaps it is the very person I have pictured there!

I wish I could determine the complaint of this person(?) (Is being a member of Homo if not actually member of the more specific sapiens sufficient to call someone a person?) Since this comment was on a piece about evolution v creationism I would assume that this person is a Creationist as I did happen to take the Evolutionary side of the question. I guess that pretty much explains it.

Oxymoron: Amish Cook

Monday, April 30 South Bend Tribune.
From “The Amish Cook”, by Lovina Eicher

...Jacob’s family had a good supper of barbequed chicken, steamed potatoes, cheese, dandelion salad, and hard-boiled eggs…(gourmands of the prairies!) …After lunch they ended up taking one of their sons, Jacob Jr.,7, to the emergency room…(coincidence or simply ironic?)…He ended up being admitted… (sounds like everybody’s end is up)
…He just started getting sick on Saturday, so it overtook him very quickly…(elegant prose, eh?)…It seems we have to get a new mower… (oh! the humanity!)…If it’s not one thing it’s another, but that’s life…(more accurately that is 2 clichés separated by a comma)… If things would always go easy, we’d soon forget about our Heavenly Father’s great power…(God never could maintain the equipment)… I like doing the garden when I can go barefoot… (hookworm might explain the odd theology and sub 5th grade writing style) … Anyone have a recipe for coconut macaroon pie or carrot pie?…(983 hits on Google for the coconut macaroon pie. 9,710 hits for carrot pie. Who knew?)

Following is an added response to Amish Cook fans:

The agent of the Amish Cook perhaps took this blog a little too seriously! This was posted at the Oasis Newsfeatures website this weekend:
.
Hmmm, Should I Be Offended or Amused?Published on May 20, 2007 by Kevin Williams in Blog
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“Okay, it's a slow blog day and while just randomly surfing through cyberspace, I stumbled upon this bizarre blog entry from a writer in the tiny town of Knox, Indiana. Apparently the writer had nothing better to do than dissect the Amish Cook's writing style, or, in her opinion, lack thereof. I always tell editors before they subscribe to the column, that Lovina's writing is never going to win a Pulitzer Prize for literary excellence, but that isn't the point of the column. The column's main mission is to connect people in today's fast-paced whirling world to a time when life was a little simpler and less materialistic. Some of the writer's points were humorous: she was correct in pointing out the double cliche. That wasn't one of Lovina's strongest journalistic moments. I wasn't quite as amused when she started making veiled references to the lack of education. With all candor, I've met many Amish who are as well-read or are as successful of a entrepreneur with their eighth grade education as I have people with college degrees. So, anyone else have any thoughts? Should I be amused at the entry? Or offended?”
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Knox Indiana only wishes to say that there is such a thing as quality. To some folks quality doesn't matter nearly so much as the intent. For example they might say, "It's the thought that counts." when they have to defend bad quality. I don't think that is a valid defense for poor quality in a public, professional, journalistic setting. I didn't know what degree of education the Amish tended to have, so Kevin's "veiled reference" is imaginary. It was, in fact, an unveiled reference to the actual level of quality of the writing of "The Amish Cook". Although I haven't actually witnessed a well-read Amish person, I really have no doubt that it might be possible that there be such a person. Certainly Lovina does NOT rise to that description. It would be quite nice "to connect people in today's fast-paced whirling world to a time when life was a little simpler and less materialistic." But I think that statement pretty much says, "It's the thought that counts".

BTW: Somebody needs to tell Lovina how to use the word "good". For example: The garden isn't growing good, it is growing well. That she should have gotten in 5th grade, or at least from Kevin.

How’s Our Library Doing? Part 4

............... Chevaux de la grotte Chauvet (31 000 BP) ...............

Man and Neanderthal lived in Europe at the same time.

However, it doesn't seem that Neanderthal painted.

Click on the picture to get a better view.

Comment #2 to my blog of Saturday, April 14, 2007, “Let’s ask Leonardo” was gratifying insofar as Anonymous seemed to agree with the evolutionary point of view. Several of Anonymous’ points call for clarification. Anonymous said, “Many fossils of Homo sapians [sic] have been found all over the earth and researchers can prove the evolution of a neandrothal [sic] through the widening of the skull and the shortening of the mandible.”

Although it is somewhat ambiguous, I take the above statement to say that Homo sapiens (us folks) evolved from Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis). Presently there is scientific consensus that Cro-Magnon man (as Homo sapiens are called during this time frame) lived side by side in Europe with Neanderthal man. The implication is that neither Neanderthal evolved from humankind nor did humankind evolve from Neanderthal. They evolved from a common ancestor at some point in their evolutionary history.

Sadly, even supporters of evolutionary theory in the Evolution fact v. Creationism nonsense often hold very outmoded or incorrect notions. This allows a bit of an unwarranted handhold for Creationists in this ruckus (it certainly can’t be characterized as a debate).

Which brings me to our library. (What a weak segue, eh?) I recently saw a book on the Discard Pile (cost: 2 bits) at the checkout desk, "Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms: Essays on Natural History" by Stephen Jay Gould.

First let us talk about the Discard Pile. Libraries need to constantly cull their collections. There are several reasons: they buy a lot of popular fiction that no one wants to read a few years hence, they have non-fiction material that becomes outmoded, books wear out, books are donated that the librarian doesn’t want in the collection, etc. I certainly agree with the principle, particularly in a small community library.

Now let’s talk about the author, Stephen Jay Gould (died 2002), a long time professor at Harvard, and leading paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. For many, many years Gould wrote a monthly essay for Natural History magazine. These essays have been gathered up and published on a regular basis. "Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms: Essays on Natural History" was one of these collections of essays. Gould was a great scientist, teacher, and writer. Amazon.com gives 268 results for Author: Stephen Jay Gould.

I bought the book from the discard heap and re-read it. (I first read it when it first appeared in our library in 1998.) I would have liked to refer Anonymous to an essay in this book called "Up Against a Wall". There Anonymous could have read a little bit about Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon co-existing in the time of the great cave-paintings at Lascaux and Chauvet. Sadly our library no longer owns this fine book. Happily, now I do. But, again happily, if you want to read this article you can! Thanks to Indiana’s libraries. Go to http://www.inspire.net/. Get your free Indiana account and Search For “Up against a wall”: Title AND “Gould, Stephen Jay”: Author in the Database: “Academic Search Elite”.

Generally I do not have any big disagreement with the Starke County Library’s discards. In this case, they made a definite mistake. If the library wants "Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms: Essays on Natural History" back, please e-mail me at knox.indiana@hotmail.com . I’ll drop it in the book return box.

Our very own Aerial Screw

An “Aerial Screw” Designed and Drawn by Leonardo da Vinci, Manuscript B Folio 83v

Ah, beautiful Cranberry Cove. Really the most beautiful spot on an otherwise pretty dreary Bass Lake. There is some rare deep water, shelter from the wind, a nice sunset view, and no public road access. You can’t see the cove from lake-encircling County Highway 210. This is the spot one would expect the wealthy to erect their cottages. It seems that there is a private helipad on a pier on Cranberry Cove. This fact was a surprise to me, but I suppose I should have guessed as much. It seems we live in a time of exceptional excess.

Of course the reason I mention this is that Bass Lake was the scene of a recent helicopter wreck. The story goes that the businessman/ owner of the aircraft was flying in with his secretary and they crashed into the lake a bit shy of the aforementioned helipad. (I’m sorry I inadvertently used the S word in my last sentence.) The unfortunate administrative assistant (Did this happen on Administrative Assistant's Day? That would be ironic, eh?) was found either dead or near dead by would be rescuers. The owner / pilot of the helicopter had not been found as of this writing. Various law enforcement types are cruising about presumably waiting for the inevitable bacteria to inflate the corpse.

I think this is kind of terrible. Terrible that nice, fun-loving people die violently in the prime of life. But also terrible that somebody uses an extremely intrusive helicopter to ruin the quiet beauty of this spot just to have a bit of that fun. Just a few miles away in the next County on Lake Maxinkuckee, either ordinance or committee prevented a similar situation. Evidently the mega-rich owner of the Indianapolis Colts football team wasn’t able to negotiate for a helipad on the end of his pier. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bass Lake neighbors of our missing helicopter pilot were quietly a bit pleased that the raucous beast of a machine had crashed. I certainly would be.

Starke County, the home of Bass Lake and the city Knox, has had a very stand off attitude towards land use regulations or restrictions on property. This is a reflection of many years of rather right wing, definitely conservative rule, by both Democrats and Republicans. I think that this attitude has done much allow the uglification of Bass Lake. Homes have been built that are absurdly excessive. Some are so large that they take up nearly their entire lot, casting a 2 story shadow on their neighbors and shocking the eyes of the passers by. Limits are needed. Sure as hell we don’t want helicopters landing on piers. There needs to be limits: limits on growth, limits on noise, and limits on density. I think that this is called civilization.

Sex In Our City

Pet Peeve Aside: Boring writers that go on about the completely trite, completely worthless details of their personal lives. Why would I care that they are annoyed with the weather or irritated by (for example) the dumb-ass drivers of the Knox 4-lane. Those jounalistic dolts especially cause hot blurry spots in my visual field when they go on about their family. For example, “It is such a great joy, a joyous gift from our Lord, to watch Baby Smellybottom finally learn to walk. And she’s only just turned 35 months! We are so looking forward to Smelly’s 3rd birthday! All her cross-eyed kinfolk will be there. I guess I’m going to have to clean up the crawl space.” This kind of crap is what passes for feature writing in the South Bend Tribune and the local rags (when they even bother).

Begging your pardon for the introductory rant, the Aside, so-called. What I would really like from these byline featured, 2-dimensional personalitied columnists is a good sex column. You know, like the fictional NYC column by the skinny, blond, curly-haired slut on HBO’s Sex in the City. Oh yah, “Sex in Our City”. I’d bet I would get more than 2 or 3 more hits on my strange little blog, that is, if I could produce such heat. Ah, sadly, I am graced with a face like a horse and consequently a sex life of no interest to anybody including yours truly.

So let us talk about the Knox Police Department. It has come repeatedly to my attention that a certain uninteresting Knox police officer has been diddling some equally uninteresting citizen of our fair city. I haven’t reported such going on because of the seriously uninteresting aspect of the whole affair. My God, certainly this qualifies as a Boring Rendezvous, a cop and a bored housewife. Well the interesting part of all this is not the sex. The interesting part is that the cop got fired for this behavior. The cop seems to agree with me that this really isn’t such an exciting deal. So consequently this police officer is suing the city for wrongful dismissal. The defense (rather interesting perhaps if this ever goes to trial) is that many police officers in the past have committed identical or at least similar acts of boring sex and none of them were fired. We hereby proclaim this the boring sex defense. I think it could work!

Oddly, it seems that there was actually good cause for firing this same diddling officer of the law some time ago when in a psychotic state the officer threatened with a drawn gun to kill either self or family or self and family or some such totally equally disturbing scenario. If this is at all true, this enactment of the suicidal / homicidal primal scene seems to be a damn good cause for firing a policeman. Actually it seems odd that the police officer wasn’t locked up at that time.

Your government in action. Brilliant!

Let’s ask Leonardo

Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”.
Where was Leonardo da Vinci born?
Click here and Scoll down to "Interests" for the answer.

Leonardo da Vinci had theory about geography. He thought that the earth was a sort of reflection of man (or maybe vice versa). He called the scheme microcosm and macrocosm (or maybe vice versa). The idea went way, way back to 500 BC and was rediscovered by Leonardo, among others, during the Renaissance. This is why I illustrate this little blog entry with Mona Lisa. Leonardo was subtly illustrating the microcosm / macrocosm (hint: look at the hair and the river but if you spend some time with her you will see a lot more). Please, click on Mona to see a big detailed version.

Leonardo was no armchair philosopher. Although he loved the idea of the idea, he needed to examine the evidence. This is not the appropriate place get too lost in the truly amazing mind of Leonardo, so suffice it to say that while studying the Earth to prove his theory he came upon fossils of shellfish in the mountains. At that time there were 2 theories of the origin of shellfish fossils way up above and way far away from the ocean.

One school believed that it was evidence of the great biblical deluge. You know, Noah, the Ark, 40 days and 40 nights. How else could one explain evidence of ocean life on a mountaintop hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean? This school of thought, of course, based this belief on the text of the bible. So we could say that they had a fundamental fish to fry.

The “modern” school thought that the rock spontaneously formed crystalline structures that were the stone version of these shellfish. This school had their own strange fish to fry in that they had their own odd philosophical ideas that this spontaneous generation theory supported.

Leonardo, being the kind of guy that he was, decided to test all three theories against the evidence. He was able to quickly refute the deluge theory on several grounds. One of several pieces of evidence was that the fossil sea life occurred in many layers with a variety of species and that some of the layers were of intact joined shells indicating that these fossils were buried alive over a very long period of time. The spontaneous generation theory was refuted by several pieces of evidence, one bit being that some of the layers were composed of well-worn disjoined shells that would be consistent with a beach with its shell deposits being buried.

Oh, and by the way, he didn’t find much to support his pet microcosm / macrocosm theory either.

Of course this little discussion brings us to the present day in Knox, Indiana. There are a lot of so-called Creationists in and about Knox. They have their theory about fossils also. Coincidentally their theory is the great biblical deluge theory pretty much intact over these many years. One of the pieces of evidence that they find is exactly the same evidence that Leonardo used to disprove the spontaneous generation theory. Some of these layers of fossilized sea life appear as a jumble of disjointed shells just like they had been washed up on the beach, presumably during the great flood. Of course, that explains how these seashells got gathered up hundreds of miles from and thousands of feet above the present ocean. Brilliant!

There are members of our school board that want the creationist theory taught “alongside” evolutionary theory.

I say, “Fine!” Let’s ask Leonardo.

Notice: Repairs on the Green Line. Expect Delays

Knox is solidly on the Bible Belt, not the gilded buckle exactly, but on the belt. There are several characteristics of local Christianity that have a strongly local flavor, such as a strong non-denominational urge. Several local churches even advertise themselves as such. I understand and sympathize with this urge to accept a wider range of religious belief. After all most Christians lay-people don’t get too worked up about the relative merits of the different baptism techniques like sprinkling, pouring (infusion), partial immersion, total submersion, immersion mixed with pouring, etc. These differences, which after all historically have caused and continue to cause schisms, do lend a bit of gravitas to Christian leaders. Without gravitas one wouldn’t be much of a leader, eh?

Anyway, back to the non-denominational urge. There have been many schisms of local churches. Curiously, sometimes even non-denominational churches have breakaway groups that form new churches. Historically, in the wider world, schisms are serious business involving torture and war. More recently major Christian schisms are more about television coverage and who gets the money. Locally these non-denominational schisms are much less serious affairs. What tends to happen is that a group of parishioners become unhappy with some aspect of their leader. It might be a perceived moral shortcoming, a doctrinal difference, or simply management disagreement. It is kind of odd that a doctrinal difference can arise in a non-denominational setting but it certainly does.

Sidetracked again! So let me get back to the non-denominational urge. Most local believers don’t really care about the fine print in their churches by-laws. They like and respect most Christians that believe and act more-or-less about the same as they do. The widespread use of marquee sign is a reflection of the kind of hazy and wispy doctrine with which local folks find comfort. Although the use of cute sayings on marquee signs is probably national in scope, Knox has embraced the practice. There are many interesting, sometimes inspirational, sometimes confusing, examples. If one were to just take photos of the stranger examples, it would be the basis for an amusing calendar.

A theologian or serious scholar of Christianity could have a field day exploring the doctrinaire implications of some of these signs. Several historical heresies have been unwittingly advocated (not, of course, the stranger stuff like Gnosticism). Not being either a theologian or serious scholar of Christianity, I can’t speak with much authority. I would like to ask you to ponder the example below.

You very well may somewhat indignantly ask, “Well, what’s wrong with that?” And my answer is, “I’m not certain, but it bothers me.” The saying, although, without a doubt, cute and quite suitable for innocent youngsters, seems more appropriate to the worship of nature goddesses like Demeter and Persephone, than the God of the Bible.

In any case it certainly isn’t any big deal. Just some of that local color.

An Outstanding Public Servant

......................Solon..........................

Sometimes our little city gets lucky. For 16 years Raymond C. Walton has guided the town of Knox. He was buried today. For these many years Mr. Walton has been the Clerk - Treasurer of Knox, Indiana. He executed the duties of his office with extraordinary skill. He demonstrated extraordinary competence. I know of no other public official that can rise to his standard of skill and competency. I wish all public officials would attempt to emulate the career of this great public official.

There is no reason that the average citizen of Knox has the foggiest notion as to what I am talking about. After all, Clerk - Treasurer of Knox, Indiana, isn’t very impressive sounding. Hell, being Mayor of Knox, Indiana certainly doesn’t cast a great shadow. So let me tell you a little about Ray Walton, Clerk – Treasurer. Ray knew where the money came from and where it went. That alone is a fairly big deal. I can assure you than many other cities have Clerk – Treasurers that don’t know that much. Beyond that Ray knew exactly what the rules were. He knew what needed to be spent. He knew what shouldn’t be spent. He knew what bonds were and how to use them correctly. He knew how a budget needed to be written. He knew how to wring every last cent out of the State that the City had coming.

But having the knowledge doesn’t mean that you have the skill to communicate that knowledge or the persuasive skill to convince the public officials in charge to behave wisely. Well Ray Walton had that skill. It was obvious that Ray had no ambition to be Mayor. It was also obvious that he had knowledge, not bullshit. This allowed Mayors to simply follow his advice without worrying about screw-ups or political competition. Ray made the Mayors look good. The department heads (police, streets, water) knew they could trust what he had to say. If he said cut back, they trusted that is what they had to do. They also knew that if they badly needed something, Ray would find a way.

Sadly the Starke County government has not had anyone of Ray’s stature. Stupid decisions have been made and there are short term and long-term bad consequences. We will see County government struggle for years to come.

There is a lot more that could be said about Raymond C. Walton as a fine example of a human being and a man. But I don’t do obituaries.

Under the Arches

Homo floresiensis, ancient hobbit-sized human species, lived 18,000 years ago on the remote Indonesian island of Flores.
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Today's trivia question to prepare you for the “Clash of Civilizations”.
How do you translate the latin "Homo sapiens".
Click here and Scoll down to "Interests" for the answer.
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In the little land of Shet (called Sheet in the South and Shitt by their neighbors) lived the delightfully mannish race called Halfsapiens (or in the common mouth-tongue, Bobbots) that devoted their days to drinking coffee through a large sugar cube held between their front teeth. As they sipped their favorite beverage (they called Koffee) (at 7:00, 10:00, Noon, 2:00, and 4:00) the Halfsapiens (or Bobbots)(That is what they called themselves!) would think very deep thoughts (of a philosophical sort) and after every sip of their Koffee would expound upon whatever philosophical topic happened to be up for discussion that particular Koffhour (7:00, 10:00, Noon, 2:00, and 4:00).

Koffhour at the home of Dildo Mortfin was a particular delight! At the end of Mortsfinis lane the household was famous for the quality of the philosophical discussions. Let’s listen! It’s 4:30 and the Koffee and the Koffhour is getting a little bitter! The famous philosopher SheetWhipe (from the River Whipe in the south of Shet) was visiting that afternoon, “As I have fabulously discovered, 2 negatives create a positive. However 2 positives do not create a negative!” “Yeah, Yeah.” muttered a tired and hungry Dildo. The Bobbots (knowing how to take a hint) began to make their departures (and not a moment too soon!).

The above delightful excerpt is from an unpublished anonymous manuscript that I inherited from my maiden Aunt Juniper. (It has been rumored that she was the first love of the British fantasy writer Tolkein. He typically cryptically called his adolescent infatuation Evergreen.) (In the family we called her Ginny) In any case, I have decided to publish this excerpt because it so reminds me of the coffee klutch at McDonalds. Those old and odd fellows drinking their senior coffees and philosophizing could easily be mistaken for Bobbots; don’t you think? Ah! What wondrous ponderous ratiocinations!
Next time you’re in Knox stop in on south Heaton Street for some cheap coffee and conversation! BTW: It's the best coffee in town.

Teacher Pay and Performance

There is an Anonymous comment on Problems with Merit from a North Judson reader that mentions that she (or he) was a finalist for last year’s Lily [sic] scholarship. She points out that the winners were hard working and deserving. That certainly needed to be said. So, thanks, Anonymous. Her school pride in North Judson’s performance is quite indicative of the attitude at North Judson that gives them such an advantage over Knox. Anonymous says, “I am from North Judson and we made up 5 of the 10 finalists from the county, not to mention our other winner from Judson in Pulaski County! Go Jays!” WOW. North Judson had 2 winners. I must say that they are getting nice results for their brightest students.

This begs the two questions, what is wrong with Knox and what is right with North Judson? I think that North Judson has made a concerted effort to nurture its brightest students. Their Academic Bowl program is high intensity with dedicated teacher and student efforts. I think North Judson makes an effort where Knox doesn’t. There are many opportunities at Knox to put together high impact programs in the sciences, arts and letters. However, these opportunities are not pursued.

I would like to tell “what if” story. What if a veteran teacher from North Judson applied for a job at Knox. This teacher is interested in pursuing a new classroom opportunity that is available in Knox. It so happens that this same teacher is a driving force on the North Judson Academic Bowl team. Even if this was the most qualified candidate, and even though it would be well understood that this would be a great opportunity to improve our top-end academic performance, this teacher would not be hired. Why not? Because this teacher would be a veteran instructor and would have to be paid at the top of the scale. We don’t hire veteran instructors if we can avoid it. So that is one problem with Knox. If Knox really cared about this sort of thing we would be recruiting and hiring teachers with proven skills.

This brings up another comment from Lemuel's Mother made in response to Treating Teachers like Crap. The comment was about teacher pay. It is a widely held, rather common conservative viewpoint that paying teachers more money is either pointless or wasteful. I think it is evident that our school board holds closely to this viewpoint and the community, in large, agrees. The argument goes something like this: “Teachers have been getting pay increases and the student results haven’t been getting any better. Ergo, increased pay for teachers is a waste.” Underlying this argument is another widely held view that teachers really don’t do anything especially difficult. Hence, the claim, teachers could be replaced by housewives and nobody would notice a difference. If there is any truth to the above argument it is only because the administration makes it true. If the administration and school board does their job correctly, we do not have weak teachers. They are either not hired or are fired.

Adequate pay means that we are paying enough to attract and retain good teachers. When the school board lies and cheats in pay negotiations Knox ends up paying teachers less. (Treating Teachers like Crap). I suppose some in our community will cheer. That sort of overly cute behavior means that the best teachers will find employment elsewhere. We will be left with those teachers that can’t find employment elsewhere. The result will be a continuing decline in our school’s quality. Sad.