Perusing the Papers

As usual these mornings at the beginning of my eighth decade, along with taking my coffee and toast, I peruse the Billings Gazette and the Wall Street Journal, looking for articles to entertain or educate me. Oddly enough, in today's Gazette I found a serious column by the usually humorous Dr Alan Muskett, and conversely, a funny article in the Wall Street Journal, a normally strait-laced paper of record these days now that the New York Times and Washington Post have relinquished that title.

Dr Muskett writes about excuses in the fashion of Lord Chesterfield's Advice to his son, on men and manners: or, A new system of education. In which the principles of politeness,the art of acquiring a knowledge of the world, with every instruction necessary to form a man of honour, virtue, taste, and fashion are laid down in a plain, easy, familiar manner . . . but better and more succinctly. 


He is honest enough and without any noticeable irony to write this sentence: "I've had the privilege of reaching deep into the earth and snatching people out of the grave." And then he goes on to admit to mistakes and losses that might pull an ordinary man deep into a grave of self-pity but a really good surgeon will "give that loss a place in your life that is tolerable . . . to learn, to get better . . . to remember . . .[he] must remember." This is very good stuff. I hope he is saving these little essays to put them into a book one of these days.


And then I turned to the Sports section of the Wall Street Journal, yes there is at least a Sports page if not as much as a whole section. It is usually on the back page of the Personal Journal. I tried to capture part of it on camera, see above and below, but it is worth going over the whole thing by yourself. 

Probably some lawyer wrote a warning about the danger of concussions "following helmet to helmet contact and/or contact with the ground, object or another player." This is supposed to be posted in a prominent place in the locker rooms of National Football League teams. I hope Brett Favre reads it before he makes up his mind to return for another season. Anyway, Matthew Futterman thought it would be helpful to have warning signs for other sports. Here is another one to the right.


By the way, there is an interesting obituary in today's Gazette too. A guy by the name of Reber, born in 1919, what a life. He was born at just the right time. I wished I could have had a beer or two with him.