01-12-2026, 08:06 AM
"There came to him an image of man's whole life upon the earth. It seemed to him that all man's life was like a tiny
spurt of flame that blazed out briefly in an illimitable and terrifying darkness, and that all man's grandeur, tragic dignity,
his heroic glory, came from the brevity and smallness of this flame. He knew his life was little and would be extinguished,
and that only darkness was immense and everlasting. And he knew that he would die with defiance on his lips, and that
the shout of his denial would ring with the last pulsing of his heart into the maw of all-engulfing night."
-- from the novel "You Can't Go Home Again" by Thomas Wolfe
Isn't it just like these famous novelists to go on and on about something using way too many adjectives and adverbs.
That's why I prefer short poetry and tend to place novels in with the dinosaurs and mastodons.
(Though at least they had the common decency to go extinct.)
...and he's wrong; after 30 years I went back home again and it's the same god damn place.
But okay, maybe he's a bit right when it comes to Pigpen; it ain't going to ever be what it was.
But hey, there's nothing wrong with enjoying whatever it is it/we are doing now.
And, dearest Milo, I've always supported the idea of a more accessible, above-ground,
non-sewer coffee klatch*. And yes, I concede there's a problem with idle chatter overwhelming
the always trenchant, all-important poetry criticism.
But there's a way to exclude comments from a specific forum from appearing in the
“Recent Posts” sidebar and I suggest that's what we should do with the
"Milo's Resplendent Kaffeeklatsch" (My Modest Proposal for it's official name.)
I'm going to intend to post the info in another comment below and pray this isn't another attempt
on my part to continue paving my way to hell.
* "Other accepted spelling variants include "coffee klatsch" and "coffee-klatch". They are all borrowed
from the German Kaffeeklatsch, meaning “coffee + gossip.”
spurt of flame that blazed out briefly in an illimitable and terrifying darkness, and that all man's grandeur, tragic dignity,
his heroic glory, came from the brevity and smallness of this flame. He knew his life was little and would be extinguished,
and that only darkness was immense and everlasting. And he knew that he would die with defiance on his lips, and that
the shout of his denial would ring with the last pulsing of his heart into the maw of all-engulfing night."
-- from the novel "You Can't Go Home Again" by Thomas Wolfe
Isn't it just like these famous novelists to go on and on about something using way too many adjectives and adverbs.
That's why I prefer short poetry and tend to place novels in with the dinosaurs and mastodons.
(Though at least they had the common decency to go extinct.)
...and he's wrong; after 30 years I went back home again and it's the same god damn place.
But okay, maybe he's a bit right when it comes to Pigpen; it ain't going to ever be what it was.
But hey, there's nothing wrong with enjoying whatever it is it/we are doing now.
And, dearest Milo, I've always supported the idea of a more accessible, above-ground,
non-sewer coffee klatch*. And yes, I concede there's a problem with idle chatter overwhelming
the always trenchant, all-important poetry criticism.
But there's a way to exclude comments from a specific forum from appearing in the
“Recent Posts” sidebar and I suggest that's what we should do with the
"Milo's Resplendent Kaffeeklatsch" (My Modest Proposal for it's official name.)
I'm going to intend to post the info in another comment below and pray this isn't another attempt
on my part to continue paving my way to hell.
* "Other accepted spelling variants include "coffee klatsch" and "coffee-klatch". They are all borrowed
from the German Kaffeeklatsch, meaning “coffee + gossip.”
all this useless beauty... but what the hell, why not?