Even the mightiest fall, eventually

Studs Terkel died today.  He was 96.

That would be a great enough accomplishment all by itself. But Terkel's power of obeservation, combined with his peerless command of language made him one of the mightiest.

I came to know him late in his life. In 1992, I was taking a theatre class in college, and the instructor loved Terkel. I, too, came to love him. As if that wasn't good enough, he was a regular on one of my most favorite public radio shows, A Prarie Home Companion.

Studs Terkel was one of the good guys. A liberal for whom even conservatives had a great deal of respect. How could you not?

I am sad, but I know Studs wouldn't want it that way.

The Hamburger/Hotdog Semaphore

I can't really say why, but after going up to the cafeteria at the job site I've been going to for the past three months now, and getting entirely too much ketchup for the entirely too-much food-for-lunch-for-one-person, I must be trying to send some sort of subliminal message by way of Hamburger/Hotdog Semaphore.

And on the way back to the small office in which I work there, a matronly lady stopped me to say that I had a large wiener [on my plate].

It's the simple observations by common folks that brighten my day.