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I don't know about you, but I'm having a lot of trouble right now recovering from all the hoop-lah of the holidays.
In fact, I wrote about this very subject a couple of years back in an essay entitled "Post Holiday Blues".
But it's not just that.
This divorce business, which I mentioned in the last post, is really a difficult process to deal with, for all of us who live and work here on the estate. Almost like a death, with all the feelings of loss involved.
Normally our employers would be off to Switzerland this time of year for their annual nips and tucks.
But not this year.
Everything is different.
Today my mind is wandering, and I've been thinking about the lovely and precious Lillian Hellman, once called "the most famous woman playwright in the world".
Her stage play "The Little Foxes" has been going through my mind all day long, all about the corruption and evil schemes of the rich.
While the slightly-scandalous Tallulah Bankhead (way back in 1939) was the original Broadway star, my memory of this play is from tv re-runs of the film adaptation with Bette Davis as the lead..
Miss Hellman herself, of course, was brought up on charges before the infamous and entirely discredited McCarthy Committee on un-American Activities, which also placed her on the revolting Hollywood Blacklist -- accusing her of being a communist for her fearless and enlightening literary depictions of how rich people behave.
And I guess a blog writer like me, talking about more or less the same things, would be on his idiotic list as well.
But thankfully times have changed.
Social media today would have stopped this deranged man in his tracks, long before he could have destroyed so many lives and careers.
Ok, I don't know where all that came from, and please forgive me that outburst. It's the exhaustion from the holidays, I suppose. But the Missus moving out and the on-going divorce is just so very, very draining.
Thanks for stopping by tonight, and for following along.
I hope you're recovering from the holidays somewhat better than I am! Ha!
Andrew
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Andrew Hope 2013 is a better year for both of us !!!!!KEK
ReplyDeleteLord willin' and the creek don't run dry.
DeleteAndrew
I love that play! Haven't thought about it in years so thank you for bringing it to mind. Sounds like Mr. McCarthy was a republican, lol. Hang in there, sounds like things can only get better at this point.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phyllis in Philly, and welcome to this site!
DeleteYes, he was a republican. But don't forget that tyranny like his can come from either side of the isle.
Dilligence and Twitter will set us free! Ha!
Please stop by any time.
Andrew
I think Lillian Hellma would have been amused by your blog, Mr. Williams, especially considering her restraints on this very topic.
ReplyDeleteMattie
Maybe that's the sweetest compliment I've ever had, Miss Mattie.
DeleteThank you for saying that, and please do keep in touch.
Andrew
I think you would have definitely been on his hit list, Andrew. I lived throught those times, and some of my friends in Hollywood were hauled up before his committee. I'm so glad you wrote about this. No one remembers it much anymore, but it was horrifying at the time, and things can go so terribly wrong when someone like him gains a little bit of power.
ReplyDeleteI'm sincerely humbled by your comment, Ms Clarkson. And thank you for sharing that. I can only imagine what you and your friends went through during those days.
DeleteAnd I'm so very sorry this McCarthy era seems to be slipping into history. We can all learn so much from that horrifying time. How could such a thing happen in a democracy like ours? But I'm absolutely sure that abuse of power will have a special place in hell for men like him.
And if I wind up in hell for some untoward and entirely undeserved reason, I promise you his butt is the first one I'll kick!
Please do stay around, and drop in here anytime.
Andrew Williams