Cap and Frown.

Another spring and no has asked me to speak at their graduation. It doesn’t have to be a     big or fancy school and I don’t expect an honorary degree, although one would be nice. I just want to share my wisdom. The speech   is written, so all I need is an invitation. Until then, all you wisdom seekers can read the     text below.

 

In the story, "Trouble Is My Business," Raymond Chandler writes, "Anna Halsey was about two hundred pounds of middle-aged putty-faced woman in a black tailor made suit. Her eyes were shiny black buttons, her cheeks were as soft as suet and about the same color. She was sitting behind a black glass desk the size of Napoleon's Tomb and she was smoking a cigarette in a black holder that was not quite as long as a rolled umbrella. She said, 'I need a man.'"

 

Beginnings are important. They can tell us     a lot about the rest of the story, even determine it to a certain extent, but no one should presume to guess the end from the beginning - especially with a mystery. The same is true of you. It's fine to have ambitions and feel you have a grip on the future, but not too tight. A relaxed grip is best.

 

"I need a man good-looking enough to pick up a dame who has a sense of class, but he's got to be tough enough to swap punches with a power shovel. I need a guy who can act like a bar lizard and backchat like Fred Allen, only better, and get hit on the head with a beer truck and think some cutie in the legline topped him with a breadstick."

             

Yes, the description only applies to men, but      a woman is doing the talking and, more importantly, the hiring. As for the passage itself, it’s both prescriptive and descriptive. It prescribes the sort of man that Anna Halsey claims to need. Indeed, the sort of person that any man would proudly be. Right down to knowing who Fred Allen is. But this passage also describes Anna as a woman who knows what she wants. Not literally – she doesn’t name anyone - but vividly and explicitly. That's a good quality. Have goals, but don't get hung up on specifics. Note that Anna never says why she want this man or even if she expects to finds him, yet her sense of direction is firm.

"It's a cinch', I said. 'You need the New York Yankees, Robert Donat and the Yacht Club Boys.'" 

Don't ever take yourself too seriously. Who was Robert Donat?  He was a lot of people, he was       an actor. 

 "You might do,” Anna said, "cleaned up a little."

 You might, too. Thank you - and good luck.