Scott's Original Miscellany

Now I give you, in all seriousness, a book report.

Wandering around Union Station in D.C. awhile back, I came upon this compact and fascinating tome. It was not only an interesting read on the train, but continues to hold my attention whenever I need a little intellectual pick-me-up.

In Scott’s own words:

“Schott’s Original Miscellany is a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles. Its purpose is to gather the flotsam and jetsam of the conversational tide. Importantly, Scott’s Original Miscellany makes very few claims to be exhaustive, authoritative, or even practical. It does, however, claim to be essential. It is, perhaps, possible to live one’s life without (it), but it seems a curious and brave thing to attempt.”

Overstated? Maybe just a tad. I love this little book! Here are a few of its “unconsidered trifles:

Orders to Fire a Cannon:

Silence!

Cast loose your gun!

Level your gun!

Take out your tampion!

Prime!

etc. etc..

Phobias: ( a brief selection)

Fall of satellites…….keraunothnetophobia

Foreign languages….xenoglossophobia

Imperfection……….atelophobia

Getting wrinkles…..rhytidophobia

Sgt. Pepper: the following list contains some of those people whose images appeared on the celebrated 1967 cover of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album.

Mae West

W.C. Fields

Fred Astaire

Bob Dylan

Tony Curtis

Dylan Thomas

Albert Einstein

Shirley Temple……(among others)

That’s a taste of its scope. Also included are:

Commonplace Latin

Morse Code

Famous Last Words

Cattle Branding

Super Bowl Singers

…and on and on. What fun!

Yes, I hear the reader saying: “where is she getting the time to even think about this stuff?”

My brief chunk of leisure is now ended, and I am off to errands, rehearsals, making dinner, serving company, and who knows what else.