"Foul deeds will rise, tho all the earth oerwhelm them to men's eyes" (Shakespeare)

Friends, Acquaintances, Readers, Commentators, & Cuzzins: Just to demonstrate how even handed I am, that I not only publish long lists of Kudo-ers who come here with their encomiums of me, I also publish (on occasion) something, perhaps, that Mike Herbstman might have written.  But no, the following letter (from 1982) was dusted off by daughter number 2, Bonny Sue:

 

…..Dear Friend…..As you have undoubtedly heard, our beloved (?) colleague, Dr. Norman Ross has announced his retirement as of June.  In order to make sure that he doesn’t try to back out at the last moment, we are having a “Norman Ross Retirement Dinner” at our house on Saturday, May 1.  Since you are among the very small group of people who could possibly be expected to be willing to tolerate him for an entire evening in a relatively confined space, we are inviting you.  Actually we are BEGGING you to come because, otherwise, we’ll be stuck with him alone for the entire evening.   If you have any compassion for us fellow sufferers, you’ll come!  This wretched affair is scheduled for 7:30 P.M. and will consist of a full Chinese Water Torture…er, Chinese Dinner and mercifully, plenty to drink.  RSVP by April 24 since, if attendance will be too sparse, we’ll be forced to leave town.  By the way, if you don’t show up, we will never speak to you again under any circumstances  !$#%**#@

                                                                Sincerely,    Carole and Dick Eustis

 

.....The ? after the word, "beloved" means, I suppose, hopefully, that it should not be taken in the pejorative sense.  I was actually beloved by my mother. In truth, I was invited to this "wretched affair" and so were the school janitor and a couple of bus drivers.  It's a wonder, and is a fine example of my good nature, that I didn't fire Dick Eustis--whom I generally referred to as Dick Eusless. Well, to end this discussion, I have been beloved (?), to this very day by many students and colleagues. But for the benefit of non-believers, I've forgotten their names.

.....Yesterday, I witnessed the incredible destruction of the Bazilian Myth. Never before had they been beaten on their own soil, until Germany fired their missiles at them and came away with a 7-1 blitzkrieg!  It was like a "friendly" between a pro team and an amateur.  The back line of Brazil were like whirling dervishes as they watched the ball find the net. Seven to one? In a World Cup semi-final? Obviously the Brazilians had more sex than sleep the night before the game.  I can think of no other explanation.