Disappointments

Yesterday my daughter Zoe wanted to know the meaning of "disappointment". I offer 2 examples:

A couple of weeks ago, Zoe had a "no school" day on a Tuesday, which is unusual (they are usually Mondays or Fridays). Grandad works at the Denver Museum of Natural History on Tuesday mornings, so this seemed an ideal opportunity to take Zoe there and give Grandpa a surprize! But over the weekend prior, we were informed by our local newscaster (sorry, "anchor") that the museum would be closed that particular day, because president Obama had decided not only to come all the way to Denver to sign the stimulus act, but felt that the ideal location for said signing would be, yes, the museum of natural history, presumably because it is powered by the solar panels atop its roof.

A few months ago, I bought 4 primo tickets to see my teenage musical heroes, Yes. Admittedly a couple of the band members were precluded from joining the others due to advanced decrepidness, including grumpy old man Rick Wakeman, who offered son Oliver as stand-in (and an excellent one too, by all accounts). Still here was probably the last chance to see them again in all their Caesar's Palace Morning Glory. Then at 5pm the very night of the gig, at the point of greatest anticipation of the goodies to come, buddy John calls to say the gig's cancelled, another band member got decrepid. Oh, no Yes! The efficient auto-refund into my credit card account confirmed that no rescheduling was to take place.

Ah well, hopefully Zoe will learn that life is rich enough to overcome such disappointments!

The Rest Is History is Bunk

Have you ever read a magazine article (or blog for that matter) which you found interesting enough to read past the headline, and come across the words "and the rest, as they say, is history"? And have you ever thought, as I always do when I read that, "but it's a history I don't know, and I thought you were going to tell me!" Elton John started playing tunes on this mother's old upright, and the rest, as they say, is history. Well yes, seeing as how it happened in the past, the events that lead from there to fame and fortune are history, but the story might actually be interesting enough to tell. Or am I to understand by the word "history", "enshrined in the collective consciousness that everyone is perfectly familiar with."

And who is the "they" who say "and the rest is history" - just other journalists too lazy to look up and recount the story? I say commit this phrase to the flames, and to those "they" journalists - please resist future temptations to use it!

Presidential Fourtay

Our new president Barack Obama
Is a modern knight in shining armor
After Bush and the Iraqi drama
Things I hope will now start to get calmer!