--DIDJA LIKE THAT? DIDJA LIKE THAT? DIDJA LIKE THAT?


…Today a fortuitous email ended up in my "Junk" mail folder that said:

"This is the Most Effective And Safest Way To Enlarge Your Manhood. Get Incredible Gains Even While You SLEEP! Gains Of 3-4 Inches Are Not Uncommonm, Try for yourself Risk Free 100% Guaranteed to Work!!"
(Yes, they misspelled “Uncommon.”)
Most of the time I win the Netherlands Lotto or else PayPal tells me my account has been recently used by nefarious sources and that I need to immediately resend all my personal information (Social Security number included) in order to rectify the problem. Do people really do that?

…Here’s another that just showed up:

Subject: Verfication From the FBI
Att:
This message is regarding the verification about the prize you won from sweepstakes. Get back to us.

Special Agent Brian Lamkin
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(They misspelled “Verification.” Which leads me to believe crooks aren’t very bright.)

…The other day I got a rejection on a piece I sent out on February 9th, 2010. That’s two thousand TEN. Almost two years ago from today. Mind you, this wasn’t The New Yorker or Atlantic Monthly but just a very small online literary journal.
I guess the upside is, they did at least respond. Better that than nothing.

…It’s a little sad, for some reason, that when you type in “letter of…” on Google you get the cue “Letter of resignation” versus “Letter of recommendation,” which is what I was looking for.

…Sometimes I wonder things that other people would likely think are random or strange.
For instance, I often wonder who gets to name a town, or the city streets in a town.
I wonder who gets to decide what is a swear word and what isn’t.
Why, for example, is Fuck a bad word, but Copulate acceptable?
Why is Shit dirty and not defecate?
Dick not Penis?
And so on…

…Here are some things I like:

"Each one of us is wounded. It's just that some wounds are on the inside instead of the outside." SK

"The end is where we start from.” T.S. Eliot

"I never know how much of what I say is true." Bette Midler

"A good meal ought to begin with hunger." French Proverb

"Treat a work of art like a prince: let it speak to you first." Arthur Schopenhauer