f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

Maybe I should reconsider yesterday’s assertion that I do not tend

to be envious.   Only a small amendment is needed, though. 

 

You see, the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines envy as: 

“painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by

another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage.” 

Similarly, the OneLook Dictionary‘s “Quick definition” of envy includes:

“a feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something possessed

by another.” 

 

From the perspective of those two definitions, I must confess that (1) I have

lately “envied” people with good memories; and (2) for quite awhile, I have

been painfully aware that the children of my friends Bert and Esther Foer 

are a few decades (or maybe a lifetime or two) ahead of me in the “achieve-

ment” department.  

early Alzheimer’s

she says she’ll have . . .

the usual

 

  John Stevenson

   from Quiet Enough

 

 

These factors came together today, when I saw the Washington Post

article:  “D.C. Writer Gives Unforgettable Performance: USA Memory

Championship Winner Entered Contest as Research for Book.” March

13, 2006.  It seems that, without really trying much, 23-three-year-old

Joshua Foer won the U.S. Memory Championship, on Saturday in NYC.

I’m pleased for him, of course, and pleased to see, that this has not gone

to Josh’s head:

“Although Foer set a national record for memorizing a shuffled

deck of cards — one minute and 40 seconds — the world record,

he said, is 30 seconds.  “I can’t even turn over the cards in 30

seconds,” he said.”

Yes, there is a touch of envy in my heart right now.  As his father has

already pointed out, however, it will now be much more difficult for Josh

to give excuses about having forgetten tasks he should be performing as the

webmaster and Chief Information Officer of the American Antitrust Institute.

 

If I could remember a few, I might tell you the embarrassing memory lapses

I had over this past weekend.  As I’m fairly sure I’ve said before: peridementia

is not a pretty thing.

 

                                                                                                             “everythingMovie”

  Bert and Esther’s other children are New Republic editor and

author Franklin Foer and wunderkind novelist Jonathan Safran Foer,

both of whom have been discussed in prior posts at this website.

Bert is founding president of the American Antitrust Institute. Esther

is the good-looking, brainy and talented parent.  

late night —

a waitress repeats

the list of pies 

 

  John Stevenson 

   The Heron’s Nest (March 2006)

 

 

 

widower –

who will finish

his sentences?

   

   dagosan

    (with a nod to Tom Painting)

 

 

 

can’t remember

the pretty one’s name –

tip of my tongue

 

   dagosan

    

  Happily, I have not forgotten how much

I like the one-breath poetry of John Stevenson: 

 

 

 

after midnight

getting some of my thoughts

into the lifeboats

 

 

 

 

 

midwinter

hoping the symptoms

will pass

 

 

 

 

 

 

jury room –

multiple errors

in a discarded crossword

 

 

 

 

eightieth birthday

still playing

the numbers

 

 

 

John Stevenson 

Upstate Dim Sum (2005/II)

 

                                                                      deadly sins: envy