Meta and Meta

Lament Against Destruction

From Yevgeny Yevtushenko's poem, "People":

To each his world is private,
and in that world one excellent minute.

And in that world one tragic minute.
These are private.

In any man who dies there dies with him
his first snow and kiss and fight.
It goes with him....

Not people die but worlds die in them.

(Via [of all places] The Daily Howler.)

Hilzoy on Haynes' Briefs

Here. You can't make this shit up. (Well, you could, but why would you?)

Petty's "Free Fallin'": Simple as 1, 2, 3

My favorite example of smart pop songwriting simplicity at the moment is Tom Petty's "Free Fallin.'"

Among the song's properties: it comprises three chords; its chorus comprises three words; and, most remarkably, its entire melody comprises just three notes.*

Travel Notes

Driving up into Kentucky near the exit for Kentucky Bourbon Trail, big sign reads: “HELL IS REAL.”

Across the street, another big sign: “ADULT BOOKS & VIDEO.” Which is also real, and probably has more customers besides.

[Pic by The Enchantress.]

Whither Meta?

The recent dearth of blogging in this space is less the result of a conscious decision to blog less than it is an epiphenomenon of my New Year's Resolution to keep a rigorous calendar. Part of this regime is a daily module for scheduling each subsequent day's agenda. And, turns out, when you deliberately schedule the modules of activity for each day, it's difficult to justify a general "blogging" module. (Try it, you'll see.)