Topical Guide 328
Mark Dorset
Intentions, Aims, Plans
Resolutions, Commitments, Pledges, Promises
BECAUSE they were doing so well, they turned away from coarse goods, though their respective uncles tried nearly identical arguments to make them change their minds.
“HERB, HERB,” said Ben, “you’re making the biggest mistake of your life. You are a mechanical genius, Herb. …”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Ben,” said Herb. … “This is the end, Uncle Ben. The end.” …“LORNA,” said Luther, “… you ought to be proud of what you’ve done. You’re an artist! …I assure you … — ”
“Never mind,” said Lorna. “I don’t want to hear it. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m finished. Finished.”Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 12
Foresight
Planning: Contingency Planning, “Plan B,” “An Ace in the Hole”
LYING IN BED at night in those moments when even the closest lovers turn to private thoughts in the privileged solitude of those about to fall asleep, Herb and Lorna felt — this is the honest way to put it — purer for having renounced something that had always been a guilty secret; they felt (individually, privately, secretly) proud of having put this bit of the past behind them and secure in the idea that if things did get bad, or if Ella needed something that cost an awful lot of money, if there were an emergency, then (“A mechanical genius,” he said, thought Herb), but only then (“An artist,” he said, thought Lorna), coarse goods would pull them through.
Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 12
This town is full of guys
Who think they’re mighty wise,
Just because they know a thing or two.
Why you can see see them every day
Strollin’ up and down Broadway,
Telling of the wonders they can do.
You’ll see wise guys and boosters,
Card sharks and crap-shooters.
They congregate around the Metropole.
They wear those flashy ties and collars,
But where they get their dollars?
They all have got an ace down in the hole!
Now some of them write to the old folks for coin,
And that’s their ace in the hole,
While others have gals on that old Tenderloin;
And that’s their old ace in the hole.
They’ll tell you of money they’ve made and they’ve spent
But they never can flash a bankroll.
And their names would be mud,
Like a chump dealin’ stud,
If they lost that old ace in the hole!
They tell you of trips they’re going to make
From [?] to the North Pole
But they’d end up on that line
Without clothes, not a dime,
If they lost that old ace in the hole.
See also: Plans and Schemes TG 44; Schemes and Dreams; Follies TG 41
[more to come on Wednesday, August 31, 2022]
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