Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The Written Word Is Not the Spoken Word

 The Written Word Is Not the Spoken Word 

Abe Lincoln reading to his son Tad.

 The written word 
 is not the spoken 
 conversational word 

(TOP) "The earliest known draft of the United States Declaration of Independence
a fragment in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson. June 1776."
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Composition_draft.jpg
The numerous words that were crossed out, inserted 
and changed shows how the written word is usually crafted.
(BOTTOM) Top of a finished polished Declaration of Independence 
published version, known as a broadside. 

 The written word is molded, 
 crafted and polished 

 And does not include 
 the body language and 
 the silent  expressions 
 of speech 



Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Sputnik, October 4, 1957


 LAUNCH OF SPUTNIK 
 OCTOBER 4, 1957 
 Personal Stories 
 Eight grade, age 13, Sharon, Connecticut 
 Pete, the town wino, tells us he saw it 


"A replica of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite in the world to be put into outer space..."

 Waiting for a ride to school 
 in the chill of dawn 
 the town wino comes up to us 
 pointing to the sky 

 "That thing those Russians put there  
 going around the Earth... 
 I saw it," 
 he says slurring his words, 
 "...a little silver ball" 


We stood in front of this building waiting for 
our ride to school in Sharon, Connecticut. (Google Earth)

 We laughed 
 at Pete 
 but underneath we shivered 

 Because as young boys 
 soon to be draft age 
 we knew 
 we would be involved 

Wounded during a military operation in Vietnam in 1967, 
10 years after the launch of Sputnik.