1790s Alexander Hamilton

This extract is from a letter to Elizabeth, Hamilton’s wife, from her sister Angelica. I believe she is in England with her husband. It captures well some of the devotion that surrounded Hamilton.

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I have a letter, my dear Eliza, from my worthy friend M. de Talleyrand, who expresses to me his gratitude for an introduction to you and my Amiable. By my Amiable, you know that I mean your husband, for I love him very much and, if you were as generous as the old Romans, you would lend him to me for a little while. But do not be jealous, my deal Eliza, since I am more solicitous to promote his laudable ambition than any person in the world, and there is no summit of true glory which I do not desire he may attain, provided always that he pleases to give me a little chit-chat and sometimes to say, I wish our dear Angelica was here…. Ah! Bess! you were a lucky girl to get so clever and so good a companion.

-- Ron Chernow, “Alexander Hamilton”

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Tuesday

One of those irregular nights. I went on a bathroom run at about three in the morning, and Pop was working in the office. When I went back to bed, I couldn’t stop hearing him, and even when he finally went to bed himself, I was too keyed up to sleep. So I got up to read for a couple of hours. While I was up, I saw Sammy perched on the patio table. I knew the cats must be starving, and although I wanted to try to get them in the house today, I had to take out some food for them. They really were hungry. Watching them eat, I felt strongly that it can never be wrong to feed them. I shouldn’t starve them, though I will still let them go a bit hungry. I will try to guide them a little without being draconian.

This was not the best time to have one of my irregular nights, because I needed to water today. I was unable to get up early, and lost a precious thirty minutes. Nevertheless, I am getting it done.

It’s funny that the grass we have still has a nice tint of green about it, which generally suggests we could hold off on the watering a while longer, but when you walk across the lawn, you can see how badly the ground is cracking up and you know that we are running very dry.

Creativity and the Beatles

David Brooks has a nice piece on creativity, playing off the John Lennon and Paul McCartney material that is written up in The Atlantic. Brooks does a nice job summarizing, and we'll stick with him and his larger discussion on creative tension.

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Celebrities and Stuff

"Exodus: Gods and Kings Official Trailer (2014) Christian Bale Movie" (Watch on YouTube)

ONTD

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