Just Thinking

By Bruce Grigsby Just Thinking

It’s a new year, and I’ve given up my annual resolution to do 50 pushups every morning by 7. I actually managed to maintain that one into late February a couple years ago, but I think I’ve grown more realistic recently.

By Bruce Grigsby

We were watching the Patrick Stewart version of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on Christmas Eve eve last week. Stewart, a classical Shakespearian actor, is very good as Scrooge, and I was particularly taken by his portrayal of the scene in which he’s confronted by the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley, “He’s been dead these seven years.”

By Bruce Grigsby

Luke Russert had a great thought in trying to assess the recent failure of the so-called “supercommittee” to reach agreement on a deficit reduction plan. He speculated that the more intransigent members of the committee may have feared “the scandal of sanity” that would surround them if they reached some kind of compromise agreement.

By Bruce Grigsby

The allusion to Arte Johnson’s famous line from Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In” featured in the headline to this column will elude almost everyone who does not have an AARP card. The NBC comedy TV show from the 1960s was infamously produced from my hometown of “beautiful downtown Burbank.” One memorable line from the show: “Did you hear about the recent earthquake that destroyed the civic center of Burbank? It did $14 damage.” Had Burbank been destroyed, the total damage would have been a little more that that, but that was a long time ago.

By Bruce Grigsby

It might be a Zen thing; I’m certain it’s Socratic: I find my ignorance to be hopeful. I listen to “expert” commentary from right and left and try to winnow the wheat from the chaff. Despite being a nasty old leftist liberal, I recognize plenty of wheat, good whole-grain stuff, produced by smart and sensible folks on the right side of the field. I also believe in the basic human concerns embedded in the crop produced on the left side of the field. I’m convinced that the good nutrition from both sides of the field is enclosed by tons of chaff with more than enough manure to feed on, always confident I don’t have the answer.

By Bruce Grigsby Just Thinking

Most of the poetry that speaks to me comes in the form of song lyrics. I suspect that for most of us, that is where we interact with poetry. Stephen Stills wrote “For What It’s Worth” and recorded it with Buffalo Springfield in 1967, and it’s echoing with contemporary significance.