Short Friday Five

Courtesy of Songbird

• Short People
  Are folks "height challenged" or am I "height advantaged"? Are children smaller versions of adults, or adults in training?
     Often, when I hear a very young child crying in a public place, I think "It's hard when you're under three foot tall, and you have limited means of communication." This charitable thought helps make the noise somewhat more tolerable.
• Short Hops
  There are few destinations within walking distance of my house. I live in what is called Venice Neighborhood (one of the major north-south streets is Venice Blvd). There is a sort of park area about two blocks south of my house, with a charming gazebo and some trees. It's not really much of a park, as the space consists of a two-block long median which is just a few yards wide.
• Short Stories
  The most recent short story I've read is "The Diary of Adam and Eve" by Mark Twain. Guetenberg has a lovely illustrated version of Eve's Diary, and the text of Adam's Diary.
     Serious students of Twain know that he wrote several "translations" of diaries puportedly by figures from Genesis, including Adam, Eve, Seth, and Methuslah. The collection Letters from Earth includes several of these translations, including a slightly different version of Eve's Diary.
     The diary is not laugh out-loud funny, but it is charming. Twain's view of the relation of the sexes is fairly stereotypical (for example, Adam thinks Eve talks too much), but he was a man of his times.
     A couple of things especially caught my attention. First, shortly after she arrives on the scene, Eve starts putting up signs like "Keep Off the Grass." In effect, Twain is saying that women are resposible for the Law.
     Secondly, Adam is annoyed by Eve before the Fall, but comes to accept her afterward. The final line of the story, which I thought was sentimental, is "Wheresoever she was, THERE was Eden." It's a dramatic change for the person who was profoundly annoyed by the "new creature" at the beginning of the diary, and I'm not sure the story fully explains how that change occurs.
• Short Lists
  As a bachelor who is basically too lazy to cook, I tend to live out of boxes. And I generally go grocery shopping once a week. So my grocery list tends to be rather short — three or four items.
• Short Stops
  If I were a baseball fan, I would name my favorite short stops. Can't think of a one. Typically, a journey to the hardware store is a "shortstop". At least it is in comparison to a trip to the bookstore.