A little bit of this, a little bit of that and a few things I learned on the way to someplace else.

Dressed for excess

A mischievous, politically-inclined friend forwarded me an e-mail with the comment, “An idea whose time has come.”

Here’s the idea. See what you think.

“Members of Congress should be required to wear uniforms, just like NASCAR drivers, so we could identify their corporate sponsors.”

Hmmmm. I second that motion.

“Can’t you just see Barney Frank,” my friend continued, “walking the halls of Congress with Freddie Mac embroidered on the back of his business suit? And Sen. Christopher Dodd with AIG - in big red letters - plastered across his chest?”

Of course, corporate “sponsors” aren’t the only things NASCAR and Congress have in common.

Leaders in both groups go around in circles most of the time.

Dumb and dumber

The satirical newspaper, The Onion, came up with what seems to me the ideal political philosophy.

“We never waver in our political stance, ” they said. “We are pro-smart and anti-dumb. If you can find us a side of the political aisle with no stupid people on it, we promise not to jab that side.”

Pretty smart, huh?

And pretty hopeless.

The way things are going, the ‘smart only’ side of the aisle must have a lot of empty seats.

Tweet, tweet, tweet

I used to say that I’d never amount to anything because I hate meetings. That hasn’t changed.

But now, I have an additional claim to perpetual mediocrity. I don’t Twitter.

If you do, fine. I don’t mind. But, as Yogi Berra used to say, include me out of your network.

I don’t need to know what time you left for the grocery store or how many traffic lights you caught between here and there.

Twitter is the latest craze. The so-called social networking tool allows participants to broadcast brief, near continuous “updates” to the burning question “What am I doing?” I think the Twitter question begs larger questions: Why would anybody care?

Or, the way I see it, why would I want my whole “network” to know my every move?

Somehow, I’ve always thought one of the pleasures of being a grownup is that you don’t have to tell anybody where you are going or how long you’ll stay or what you plan to do when you get there.

I like being a grownup.

Besides, I wouldn’t want it on my conscience that I bored people to death.

Pitch perfect tribute

At Laura Lewis’ funeral in 2003, LaGrange Symphony Orchestra director Patricio Cobos played a magnificent and moving violin solo, a heartfelt tribute to the local librarian who had been a leader in so many areas of community life, including the symphony board. In the universal language of music, Cobos’ evocative playing united grieving hearts in appreciation of the beauty Laura brought into the world.

Afterward, I told her husband Frank, then LaGrange College library director, that I couldn’t have imagined a finer tribute.

Now Frank is gone, too, and I am thankful that the leaders of LaGrange College have made him and Laura the subject of a lasting honor in bricks and motor.

Friday’s dedication ceremonies for the Frank and Laura Lewis Library at LaGrange College were pitch perfect. Every speaker offered eloquent reminders of why the spectacular new library bears the honored names of this splendid couple, librarians and pioneers, devoted to each other, to learning and to community service.

And all who saw the edifice and heard the speakers left with a greater appreciation for the beauty Laura and Frank Lewis brought into the world.

Readers may contact Andrea Lovejoy by email at editor@lagrangenews.com