NOTES FROM THE FOURTH OF JULY, PART ONE: Had a great time. Consumed much potluck with Russo, Shamed, Tepper, Sanchez, and several blogless but no less worthy individuals. Russo decorated the apartment with quotations about America or Americans–ranging from, “On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed” (Thomas Jefferson) to, “Drugs have taught an entire generation of American kids the metric system” (P.J. O’Rourke). And this, from Tom Wolfe: “Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America — that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement.” Here’s a page with many quotes from Jefferson; ditto for O’Rourke. Enjoy.

(While I was in Seattle I jotted down ideas for 21 posts, of which this is the first. The other 20 will seep out over the course of the next several days. Expect the less think-y ones first; I’m still a bit jetlagged.)