Elevator Music
Monday, July 22, 2024
Elevator Music
Honestly, there wasn’t anything in the pipeline recently for the sake of writing a newsletter. This has mainly been an exercise in pursuing whatever peculiar items attracted and held my attention, after all, since that’s the only thing I could write about. I’ve still got my obsessions about national security and international relations, but I hadn’t cultivated anything essay-worthy.
Mind you, I decided against sugar-coating things and against wallowing in doom and gloom. At least for this week. Ruling those out, I have little to expand upon.
As it is, the news we culturally obsess over leaves me uninspired, and I think some of you feel similarly. It’s all so repetitive, especially if you’re tired of politics. I don’t expect yesterday’s announcements will alter my perception, momentous as they are. But, wait and see.
So for today: this placeholder. Imagine you’re on an elevator with strangers, and you have multiple options for ignoring the others: you can look ahead, look up, look down, or fool around with a smartphone by looking at something you don’t mind letting other people seeing you look at. Or you just stand there and listen to the elevator music, if there is any. Try to name that tune, and if you know it, hum it to yourself voicelessly.
There! You’ll arrive at your floor very soon. I’m exiting right here.
Good morning. My neighbor just stopped in because she accidentally locked herself out of the house with the stove on. I was sitting in the front room by the window and heard a voice saying, "Mrs. W? Mrs. W? It's me, April ...".
The fire department will come break her in. Sure is Monday.
It appears the word of the day is "consequential," as in "Joe Biden will be remembered as a consequential president."
This word is being used as a compliment by people who think Joe Biden has been successful as president. I think that's because Barack Obama issued a statement calling Biden "one of America’s most consequential presidents," and people figured Obama must be saying something positive. I think this interpretation is erroneous and that Obama (or whoever writes for him now) intentionally chose an ambiguous adjective.