Indeed, everybody wants to be a wow, But not everybody knows exactly how.

Dogs display reluctance and wrath If you try to give them a bath. They bury bones in hideaways And half the time they trot sideaways.

Bankers are just like everybody else, except richer.

One would be in less danger From the wiles of the stranger If one's own kin and kith Were more fun to be with.

Authors of all races, be they Greeks, Romans, Teutons, or Celts, Can't seem just to say anything is the thing it is but have to go out of their way to say that it is like something else.

Among other things I think humor is a shield, a weapon, a survival kit. So here we are several billion of us, crowded into our global concentration camp for the duration. How are we to survive? Solemnity is not the answer, any more than witless and irresponsible frivolity is. I think our best chance lies in humor, which in this case means a wry acceptance of our predicament. We don't have to like it but we can at least recognize its ridiculous aspects, one of which is ourselves.

There has been a lot of progress during my lifetime, but I'm afraid it's heading in the wrong direction.