mermaids are...real?
I. OFFICIAL NOTICE ABOUT MERMAIDS
Our government's National Ocean Service has an official page on mermaids. They...do not exist. Probably.
The ancient Greek epic poet Homer wrote of them in The Odyssey. In the ancient Far East, mermaids were the wives of powerful sea-dragons, and served as trusted messengers between their spouses and the emperors on land. The aboriginal people of Australia call mermaids yawkyawks – a name that may refer to their mesmerizing songs.. . .
Magical female figures first appear in cave paintings in the late Paleolithic (Stone Age) period some 30,000 years ago, when modern humans gained dominion over the land and, presumably, began to sail the seas.
I mean, 30,000 years of the same idea is proof of something: most likely man's dire ingenuity.
II. JUST A REMINDER FOR MYSELF, MAYHAP
I'm a big fan of Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels. They're the best hard-boiled fiction not to be written by (brilliant) drunks in the 30s and 40s. I recently finished The Galton Case, which was a hoot, and then came across this on its Wikipedia page:
The Galton Case is the eighth book in the Lew Archer Series by Ross Macdonald. It was published in 1959. Macdonald thought with this book he found his own voice as a writer.
Not just his eighth book, to be clear. Simply his eighth book in the series. Control of voice comes when it comes, I guess. He also got his PhD in Literature at the University of Michigan, during which time he wrote his first novel. About the same period of life, WWII was ending and he was serving in the Navy. I, a very serious try-hard writer, sometimes have a hard day if my nap goes too long.
III. CONDITIONS FOR A COUP
The only institution that Americans have overwhelming faith in is the military — 87 percent say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the military.
This is either a good time or a bad time to remember there's never been a successful post-industrial revolution without military support. I mean, coups are bad, so it's probably a bad time.
IV. "If this really is the unaided work of a young lady..."
One of my favorite leisure reading for the last few years has been to pick up the collected or selected letters of famous authors I enjoy and browse the index. Surprising names and subjects always leap out. I did so recently with Flannery O'Connor and found this gem about Evelyn Waugh.
Harcourt sent my book to Evelyn Waugh and his comment was: "If this is really the unaided work of a young lady, it is a remarkable product." My mother was vastly insulted. She put emphasis on if and lady. Does he suppose you're not a lady? she says. WHO is he?
May all our mothers react so at such moments. Also, always good to remember that Waugh, an amazing novelist, really was just an old-fashioned pig, even for his time.
V. OPINION
Kevin Conroy is the best Batman actor of all time, and it isn't close. This, uh, is very important opinion-having. Never heard of him? He stars in the best Batman adaptation of all time - The Animated Series - and in several stand-alone, animated Batman films. There was an amazing oral history in New York magazine a little while ago that'll convince you of the show, if I can't.
Everyone needs some diversion now and then, and the Batman: Animated Series is on Amazon Prime. (The same people also did Superman and it's the one adaptation where Superman is an interesting hero!) Have a good and restful weekend!
P.S. It's March for Life time in D.C., which you should probably read more about, whatever you think of abortion. I think it's the kind of issue where you should only have strong opinions, and where grace should lead the way from either side of the aisle. But that's probably too heavy for a newsletter which also talks about Batman. Who is probably Catholic.