I was wondering about that...

Do I need to be frightened by how smart Jeffrey truly is? And this brought to bear by Fr. Z?
I'm so not worthy to be in y'all's company.



But we're coming to Chicago anyway, so there!

The case is shipped.

And we have wheels for necessity runs.

If Fr. Jeff is at Intensive, which Scelata indicates, could someone ask him if he's staying next week. It's been like 25 years since Wendy's seen him and sung with him live, so to speak.

And Wendy will tie my bow ties for evening wear, huzzah.

Are bow-ties de rigeur?

Speaking of rigeur, I once had to don a bow-tie for a concert. It was a pre-tied thing with an adjustable strap, pulled from a dusty drawer. I tried to put it on but quickly found that there was no latch for the strap's catch/hook, so it was useless. I was to go on stage in five minutes. No other bow-tie was to be found.

Enter the Gaffer.

Blessed ubiquitous back-stage factotum of all trades! He sized me up, wagged a thoughtful finger, and disappeared. Moments later he returns with a roll of black duct tape. "Ah! Duct tape," I sigh, relieved.

The gaffer looks at me in shock and says, "This is not duct tape" (as if pronouncing the name of a disease), "this is gaffer's tape. Much better than duct tape. It leaves no sticky residue, doesn't reflect light, and is amazingly strong. Give me that thing."

In what seemed like one continuous motion, he expertly wrapped the end of my bow-tie's strap with gaffer's tape, tested the catch against it, and handed it to me. The look on his face was pure assurance.

It worked.

The trouble is, I have not found a source of this magical gaffer's tape since. In fact, I'm inclined not to look, so trusting have I become in the Gaffer. I did not even catch his name. When I returned from the stage, the good work done, he was nowhere to be found.

Another bow tie sighting:

Dashing!