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Letters written by Ash
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- Written by: Rita Cormulley
- Category: Letters
- Hits: 2
ash wrote this “tribute” to her least favorite cultural phenomenon years ago, as it was reaching the peak of its popularity (and her adolescent son played it mercilessly). If she was an “old fogie” then…At any rate, enjoy this apolitical tangent from seriousness.
Now I sure love good music and such
Some I like a little and some I like much
I sure love Jazz with its dissonant chord
And when I listen to it don’t never feel bored
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- Written by: Rita Cormulley
- Category: Letters
- Hits: 1
For another change of pace, here's a game ash calls "flip a phrase." It consists of taking a classic cliche or piece of conventional wisdom and rhetorically turning it on its head. There are 23 examples below. Submissions are welcome.
Life is very long.
Everything’s an accident.
It’s a huge world.
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- Written by: Rita Cormulley
- Category: Letters
- Hits: 2
In the following five-part true story, ash describes to her friend a recent trip to Chicago to celebrate ash’s father’s 90th birthday, her mother’s 85th birthday, and their 58th anniversary, all occurring within a span of six weeks. As ash’s friend knew, ash had anticipated this gathering with much anxiety bordering on dread based on rather shaky family dynamics. Less than a year earlier, ash had been excluded by her half brother-in-law from another family celebration in honor of ash’s half-sister’s birthday (they have the same father), and when she admitted feeling hurt to her sister, her sister somehow managed to twist that slight into her own victimhood, though her sister had been invited and attended. Culminating in the pronouncement that ash “crossed the line,” her sister’s final message created a rift between them. Now they were to see each other for the first time in ten months and ash’s friend was eager to hear whether the relationship could be resolved.
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- Written by: Rita Cormulley
- Category: Letters
- Hits: 2
One of ash's favorite literary devices is what she calls "gentle sarcasm." In the following letter to her local daily, she addresses not merely what has already been summarized regarding the just-held 2006 mid-term election but what she anticipates will be said by the losing party in order to rationalize the outcome. But rather than spell it outright, she suggests a preemptive strike against attempting such nonsense, while referring to a previously written house editorial which had clearly intended to affect the results.
I see in our paper that it is post-mortem time. Or gloating time, depending on one’s political partiality.