I try to be amused…
When troubles arise, better people have a line of poetry to soothe the moment. Primitive that I am, I default to: “I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused.”
It’s the intro to “Red Shoes,” a long-forgotten Elvis Costello song about a bad break-up. He considers ending it all. But instead he tries, not altogether convincingly, to be amused.
Profound? No. Poetic? Helpful? Not really. But when it comes to public affairs and rank culture, it can help.
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Babe Ruth’s World War I Draft Registration
Despite the hoarding habits of certain federal officials, the National Archives still has a big inventory. Military history stuff. And baseball stuff. It marked the start of spring training, for example, by publishing Babe…