This and That...

Today's post is a medley of oddments for your erudition/enjoyment/commentary. BTW, why is nobody commenting anymore? Do you think your scribe is spilling all this ink (well, pixels) just for the benefit of you lurkers? For shame! It's time to de-lurk and weigh in on the issues so deftly and thought-provokingly raised in these posts. Unless, of course, you lack the power to think, or even to be provoked. In which case, double shame on you!

OK, end of rant. But it IS disheartening to send out one's wisdom and insight and factoids into the blogosphere day after day and not hear any kind of feedback. People stop me in the street to say how much they enjoy reading my posts, or to say, "Gee, I didn't know that" about a particularly juicy tidbit of local history. So that's reinforcement of a sort; but it would be nice to get some dialogue going here about current issues. Do you want the cops to stay on Greenwich Avenue? Do you agree that Jimbo Lash is an airhead (at times, at least)? Do you care about the ever-increasing level of incivility and egocentric driving patterns in town? If so, SPEAK UP!

(The silence continues to be deafening....)

So I guess I shall please myself today and simply note a bunch of unrelated things that are of interest to me. Maybe I'll even leave a comment for myself telling me how much I enjoyed my blog today. I mean, why not? That's what the comment button is for, after all.

Dates from history for February 6:

George VI died in 1952. He was all of 56 years old, and smoked too much. I fell in love with his daughter, Princess Elizabeth (one of several of my second-grade crushes), who was then on safari in Kenya. She went to bed a princess, and woke up a queen.

Ronald Reagan was born in 1911 in Tampico, IL. I always thought Tampico was in Mexico. He made movies. He became our 40th President. I'll always remember his quip to Nancy when he was shot by John Hinckley: "Sorry, honey, I forgot to duck."

Patrick Macnee was born in 1922, which makes him 85 today. I had another crush on his co-star in "The Avengers", Diana Rigg. But by the time I finally met her in person, her fast lifestyle had taken its toll, and my bubble burst. Which did not, of course, prevent my then-wife from severely criticising me for dancing attendance on Diana and keeping her champagne glass full. She told me about her latest break-up with a boyfriend: to be sure he got the message, she tossed his suitcases out the window of their Paris hotel. Just as spunky as Emma Peel, in the event.

Moving on to today's date I note with interest that a bookkeeper for a construction firm on North Street managed to embezzle some $13 million from the company. Wow! That's not just petty cash. She spread her machinations out over five years, but it's amazing to think that kind of money wasn't missed earlier. Guess it goes to show how much money is being spent on construction in Greenwich these days.

The AuthorBabe (an erstwhile commenter who has turned lurker) wrote another excellent column in the Local Rag today, riffing on a trio of out-of-control toddlers who trashed a local Starbuck's while their mommies chatted away with "blithe indifference", according to the AB's eyewitness account. This cameo represented for her much of what is wrong with society today: "...a complete lack of personal responsibility and no respect for others, coupled with an attitude of superiority and entitlement." Right on, AB!

Well, I really enjoyed hearing from myself today, and found my observations to be of great interest to myself. So now I'll post this and perhaps leave a comment for myself...just in case no one else does.