On his blog, my friend Adam posted what is sort of a response to my post yesterday about rhetoric, Cotton Mather, et al. Because Adam does in fact write sermons, I'm quite interested in what he has to say about the importance of sound in that task.

Meanwhile, let's get back to talking about the weather. Yes, it's snowing here, too, with a foot or two predicted by nightfall. And yes, we've had a goodly amount of snow this winter. But Maine is supposed to have snow, so no one is hysterical. A better word would be resigned. Also, bemused, which I cannot help feeling as I scan various overwrought NYTimes articles about the Horrors of the Storm. I imagine that my reactions to this snowy winter are analogous to those a resident of the Canadian plains might have when he reads about a cold snap in Paris. I mean, there's cold and there's COLD. And when you're COLD, cold sounds like a fine time to undertake a pleasant stroll along the Seine.

Before I leave you, I want to share this passage from Robert Gottlieb's NYReview of Books article about "Houdini: Art and Magic," an exhibition that is currently at the Jewish Museum in NYC. I have not actually read this review myself, but Tom has; and as I was striding through the living room en route to the washing machine, he stopped me and read this passage out loud:

[Houdini] had almost no schooling, and although he was to write a great deal--books on magic, biography, autobiography, short stories, screenplays, articles and books on Spiritualism, and thousands of letters--he never mastered spelling or punctuation, or editorial restraint.

The dark implications of that final clause made both of us happy.