NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS WEBSITE

THE FIRST OF SimanaitisSays, August 13, 2012, celebrated the Mazda Miata. I’m still enjoying no. 000348. And I continue to enjoy the research, composition, and production of SimanaitisSays. It’s my best retirement hobby imaginable, with GMax aeroplane building a close second.

Here are tidbits about the website’s past 12 months, arranged more or less by subject, not chronologically. 

Facts. The 2020 presidential election gave us all encouragement to Vote! And, for the majority of us, reason to celebrate both popular and Electoral College outcomes.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!.

Celebration was also appropriate with regard to Covid 19: The American Association for the Advancement of Science named the Covid vaccines as the “Science Breakthrough of 2020.” H. Holden Thorp, Science magazine editor-in-chief, wrote that “… scientists cared and rearranged their lives to get the world to a better place.”

Writing on December 18, 2020, Thorp said, “As hard as the next few months will be, let’s enjoy the moment. It is truly a breakthrough for everyone.”

Break In; Another Breakthrough? Alas, Thorp’s comments came prior to January 6, 2021. We watched in horror as that day evolved. Initially, it seemed like another scientific breakthrough had occurred: “Republicans Evolve To Have Spines in Less Than 24 Hours!”

Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said soon after, “There is no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”

Alternative Facts. Even as this momentary clarity of thought was being expressed, a respected conservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute, gave reason to imply that “The Elephant Has Gone Batshit.”

An AEI survey published in January 2021 reported that “Nearly all Democrats (98 percent) and roughly three-quarters (73 percent) of Independents believe Biden’s 2020 election victory was legitimate…. Nearly two in three (66 percent) Republicans say Biden’s election win was not legitimate.”

On July 4, 2021, SimanaitisSays cited the Voice of America, the Kaiser Family Foundation, Johns Hopkins University, Nobel prize winner Paul Krugman, and Anheuser-Busch in reporting “More Republican Idiocy.” This time around, the primary issue was vaccination against Covid 19. As of June 2021, 14 percent of Americans said they would “Definitely not get the vaccine.” Among these, 58 percent were Republicans; 18 percent, Democrats.

Freedom of action is often cited as a determinant among anti-vaxxers, non-maskers, and the like. Red states predominate in these activities.  

As counterpoint, what with Covid mutating into new and more transmittable variations, I’d think their freedom of action would cease just short of my nose (and bronchial tubes).

Fictional Diversions. In the past 12 months, the website offered two diversional pieces of fiction: “The Drood Caper” is a noir interpretation of Charles Dickens, with much thanks to Raymond Chandler. “Rip’s Dream” offers a Van Winkle coulda-been after sleeping from January 20, 2020, to January 20, 2021. 

Both were good fun to compose. 

Cultural Tidbits. Moving from satire to culture, I delighted in the music of Igor Stravinsky’s “Dumbarton Oaks.” This item also untangled my garbled tale of it all. 

Tidbits on Pointillism preceded a new book by James Lapine about Sunday in the Park With George. I must read it.

And Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land reminded me of our cultural heritage. 

Thanks, SimanaitisSays readers, for sharing “The Promise of Living” with me for the past 12 months. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2021