The man, the myth, et cetera
Submitted by Sarah D. Bunting on August 26, 2009 – 8:45 AM23 Comments
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“I wrote 63 songs this year. They’re all about Jeter.” Just kidding. The game we love, the players we hate, and more.
From Norman Mailer to Wendy Pepper — everything on film, TV, books, music, and snacks (shut up, raisins), plus the Girls’ Bike Club.
Helping public schools, winning prizes, sending a crazy lady in a tomato costume out in public.
Monologues, travelogues, fiction, and fart humor. And hens. Don’t forget the hens.
The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!
I’ve (re-)discovered a few things over the course of the recent Days Of Rage. Some of them are great!
I found it while researching a murder (…this is a sentence I have more frequent use for than most), the true story of a neighborhood legend from my childhood. I grew up in a leafy, …
Sars – My 15 y.o. daughter came into my bedroom this morning and said, “You know who died from Girls’ Bike Club? Its alpha and omega… the man, the myth, the surprisingly stong swimmer…”
Never let it be said you haven’t had an impact on America’s youth.
@Sweetie: Oh my God, and I wrote that years ago, too. I apologize for corrupting Darling Jr. Hee.
Dear me. I kept expecting the morning news people to round off their hagiographies with “…and a suspiciously strong swimmer.”
That Life cover does it for me, though.
RIP, Ted. The Senate will miss you more than you know.
She’s memorized the whole CD; it’s actually kind of impressive. She especially loves the way Wing says “sorry” all Canadian-like.
I woke up to the news of his passing and my first thought was, “…the surprisingly strong swimmer.”
That’s what I said during my breakfast meeting this morning, and the first thing I thought when I heard him pass, other than “Damn, we needed him a while longer.”
“Son, it’s called waxing. Look into it.”
*sniff*
https://tomatonation.com/?p=815, in case anyone’s baffled as to what we’re talking about.
I guess I’ll just sound like the young ‘un I surprisingly am not… but what is he wearing? How would one even google that?
“Belted+ swimming apparatus + straightjacket?”
I’m assuming that’s a back brace he was wearing and that the swimming was part of his physical therapy after he broke his back.
He wasn’t perfect, he faced more than his share of tragedies, but he had heart and compassion and he will be missed.
@Natalie….I believe (from a crazy historical thing I have with all things medical – mom’s a nurse) that its a back brace of some sort. Brace is obvious to me, but back injury is what it looks like. If I can get my (40+ yrs as a nurse) to look at it, I’ll confirm if no one else has.
Oh, and yes, he will be sorely missed!
@Natalie and Anne – As Sharon says, Ted once had a broken back (he was in a plane crash). Looks like Life magazine was doing a story about his recuperation; he spent several months bedridden, I believe.
Yes, lots of faults, but marriage to Victoria seemed to really put his personal life on track. He did a lot of good. RIP.
I’m ashamed to say that from from 5am-6am this morning, I was trying like hell to figure out who Chad Quidick was, and why he had been so important to the Kennedys.
The newspeople just kept saying it, “Chad Quidik is what kept him out of the White House.” and “He also had to tell his father about Chad Quidick…”
It took me a good hour (it was early!) to figure out what in the hell they were saying. LOL
Count me in to the “surprisingly strong swimmer” club. Of course, I just got my GBC CD, so it was very fresh in my mind. (And thanks for that!)
It still hasn’t really hit me. I was sobbing like a baby this morning when I heard, and I’m still just really sad. Growing up Catholic in Massachusetts you’re practically required to love the Kennedys. I will miss knowing he’s around.
We really did need him around for just a little while longer. Just a little while.
But I guess TPTB are confident things will go the right way without him. I hope that’s right.
May he rest in peace.
I might have to stick my GBC CD in the player on the way home, now.
Definitely quoted “the man, the myth, the suspiciously strong swimmer…” to my husband when he was reading CNN.com this morning. Ah, Teddy…go with God, sir.
Ever since I read the news, my Facebook status has been ‘goodbye Ted Kennedy, you suspiciously strong swimmer,’ and the image in my mind is of good old Ted lurking around the forest like the world’s fattest sprite.
But yeah, he will be missed. He made a difference.
OK, I’m glad it wasn’t just me having the “suspiciously strong swimmer” thoughts. I was kind of worried about massive karmic backlash, but if it’s not just me, maybe I’m off the hook.
I thought of the GBC too. “…[A] member of the pantheon both mythic and mysterious…”
RIP.
On another note, am I the only one who thought (thinks) that Ted was way cuter than Jack or Bobby (back in the day)?
“C’mon. You know I make this thing look good.” RIP, Mr. Kennedy.