“Who knew metrics,” back then?
“All of a sudden, I was wondering how many words I’ve written over the past 47 years. How many words, from the time I began stringing words together on office typewriters, early in my PR career, and then moving on to typing words on an office computer, and then, much later, after wrapping up my career, going on to write more words on my computer at home, for the fun of it.”
I was wondering about that in a guest column I’d written, in early July.
“God knows how many press releases, PR plans, briefing papers, speeches, and so forth…Who kept track? Who knew metrics, back in those days?
“But, at least, I could tally the words…in the years following my career. The words in opinion pieces that were published in a financial industry newspaper, and articles in early editions of Business Insider, and articles in several newspapers. And then, later, the words in commentary I’d written about disruptive businesses, that ran in a Nevada business publication. And currently, the words in letters and columns I’ve been writing in the (Pagosa) Daily Post.”
And the grand total of words, in early July, was 81,427. By the end of that month, the number had grown to 84,905, enough words, altogether, to fill 270 or, even, 300 pages in a novel.
And among those 84,905 words, are 308 words, in the following article about the first Congressional hearing on the January 6th Capitol attack, with, perhaps, five of most important words on freedom and democracy, spoken by a congressman from Illinois. Here’s the article:
HMPRESENTLY: Age-Related
by Harvey Radin | Jul 28, 2021 | Essays/Fiction
It’s funny how things change with age.
When steaks, cheeses, wines, and such, age, they’re supposed to be really good.
With age, people may become wiser and, perhaps, more patient, more understanding. Their perspectives on various things in life may evolve. Like, for instance, when they’re feeling as giddy hearing their dentist praising them for good dental hygiene, as when they were back in school, getting praise from teachers for good grades.
And with age, you’re sometimes harkening back to old expressions — old ways of saying things. I caught myself, the other day, when I was watching our nation’s women’s gymnastics teaming struggling, a bit, saying ‘maybe they’re not up to snuff.’ Where did that come from?
I’ve written about an old car of ours, and I’ve been thinking, lately, about an old screen door that’s got character. It’s quirky and clunky. The handle, with a button you’ve got to push to open and close it, sticks, at times, and the old door creaks, too, every once in a while. But it’s a good, old door that’s held up for a lot of years.
You can’t always say that about some things.
Just as I was wondering where to go with this article, in the background, on TV, I could hear testimony during the first Congressional hearing on the January 6th Capitol attack. And hearing two words, ‘self-governance,’ I knew exactly where I’d be heading.
It was Congressman Adam Kinzinger saying “self-governance is at stake,” that got me thinking about that quirky, clunky screen door of ours, that’s not perfect, but has held up for a long time, and hopefully will continue to do so. Because, as the old saying goes: ‘They just don’t make them like that, anymore’… old screen doors, self-governance, freedom and democracy.
Forgive me for getting syrupy, but old things just get to me.
