At each school year's end, my colleague hosts a rock concert in which his guitar students play for the school. It has become a tradition, however, that he asks me to lip-sync to a rock song that one of his students plays, and while he plays on his own guitar. Two years ago, I did so for AC/DC's "Back in Black," and last year, a song by Queen. Three days ago, he asked me to lip-sync for the song "Sharp Dressed Man," by Z.Z. Top. I had never heard the song before then, so I felt a little uncertain about it. Still, both shows turned out really well! I was able to dress up like a "sharp dressed man" and got the little kids to laugh with some added dance. I think even the big kids liked it. In any case, it was a nice end to the week. With the school year nearly over, the year has turned out to be a good one.
I read part of a poem recently by one of my favorite poets. It reads: I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage The linnet born within the cage That never knew the summer woods. I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time Unfetter'd by the sense of crime To whom a conscience never wakes. Nor what may call itself as bles't The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall I feel it, when I sorrow most 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. At base, Tennyson contrasted a life of risk, and consequent pain, with one of security. He sides conclusively with the life of risk, and says he fails to envy those who have faced no hardship. I agree with him; and, for good or ill, his words are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. Like then, there are those today who choose to live their lives with as little risk as...
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