Notes From The Corner by Mike Jewell
Austin and I squirmed while catching a glimpse of our future this morning. NPR was doing a piece on nursing homes that are offering fuzzy robot seals to residents as pets. I prefer my cats, “Maximum” and “Minimum”.
The Corner seems to be changing of late. Perhaps people are wanting to sit outside. When asked, Matt thought that the corner was often crowded but he seemed to hint about other reasons for change. I’ve suspected that denizens are a bit tired of me. I wouldn’t be surprised but I would rather assume that people just want to sit outside.
Ross, a recent member (everyone is a member the instant that they sit down, even if they remain silent) compared our Corner to the Dorothy Parker Club at the Algonquin Hotel in New York. Of course there are a few differences: The Round Table started as a speakeasy and conversations were had over booze.
Parker, Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, Heywood Broun, Frankin P. Adams and Edna Ferber were regulars. Perhaps they were as wise as we in The Corner.
(We are very wise)
As promised, a few notes about memes, since the subject has arisen in The Corner. A meme is information that travels (usually rapidly) throughout a culture. In his book, “The Selfish Gene”, Richard Dawkins compares memes to viruses.
Memes are words, phrases, ideas, beliefs, tunes, and fashions that vary, mutate, and “compete” in a naturally selective way, similar to genes. Examples are; 1. “It is what it is”. 2. “Things happen for a reason”. 3. The song; “The Summer of 42”. You can see that meme content is independent of accuracy or inherent quality.
I proudly claim to be the creator of two memes. They are; “Are we having fun yet?” and “If I were me....” I cannot fault the kind reader for having doubts. However, Rob researched the meme, “Are we having fun yet” and reported that it dates back to the late 1970’s. However, I thought of it in 1973 while sitting at the base lodge at Wildcat Mt. with Diane Bojko. It became common a decade later. I use “If I were me” in an attempt to lighten the mood when “suggesting” to students what they should do. It efficiently kills two chickens with one eighteen-wheeler since it is a direct, but coded, reference to the human need to solidify “self”. One of my students printed “If I were me” on a shirt in 1997. I began using it in about 1984. I’m told that it is now being used by a clothing company. Self righteous indignation and pride compete for my prevailing attitude toward others using my memes.
“Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea,
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Romania.”
Dorothy Parker
