I grew up in Wheaton, Illinois - a Western suburb of Chicago. We moved into a new house on Plamondon Court when I was five months old. Wheaton has few claims to fame. It is the home of Wheaton College, a Christian school so conservative that dancing was banned at campus events - unless it was square dancing. This ban was lifted in 2003, with the statement that dancing was allowed, "as long as students use caution and good judgment and avoid any behavior which may be immodest, sinfully erotic, or harmfully violent." So... there's that. Wheaton Central, or Wheaton Community High School as it was known before more high schools were built, has at least four famous alumni: Edwin Hubble, Red Grange, Bob Woodward*, and John Belushi. That list may provide some balance to the college. John graduated in 1967, appeared in the first airing of Saturday Night on October 11, 1975, and married his high school sweetheart, Judy Ja...
Notoriety can be a funny thing. Around our house Martha is notorious for stealing bed covers, rigorous dishwasher-loading methodology, believing that one can be a great navigator with a terrible sense of direction, and being late for everything except airplanes. But to her friends and family Martha is notorious for.... Snatching crackers from her brother. Being forced to sit at the dinner table for eternity, her cheeks stuffed with chewed, never-to-be-swallowed vegetables. Believing that a shoelace draped over her head was a reasonable facsimile of having long, straight hair. A perfectly organized sock drawer. Passing for under 12 at the Wellesley Community Playhouse. Her favorite getaway canoe was a 17' Grumman HIN. Buying a ticket to Portland but boarding a plane to San Francisco, then demanding an explanation from the flight attendant as to why they were landing in the "wrong" city. "And why are we landing in San Francisco?...
I really like declarative sentences. You could say I have a weakness for them. I'm not sure why. There is something comforting about them. You know where you stand. You probably recognize those five sentences as declarative. That was another one. I heard somewhere that declarative sentences are a foundation of good writing. That is probably self-serving. That was two more. I could go on and on. Here I go. I should rethink this. I have other things I should be doing.
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