Takes one to know one

On a recent train trip, I found a copy of USA Today that someone had left behind on the seat. I don't usually read that paper, but I got tired of the exhausting literary masterpiece I had brought along with me. So I fled to the Entertainment section and an article about the Kennedy Center Honors and the "star-studded gala".

My favorite remark was Aretha Franklin's introduction of opera great, Grace Bumbry. She said (if she was quoted correctly), "Several young artists today know nothing about being a diva. There was a time when you earned your diva-ness. You could do it by having a voice that started like a gift from God, then developed with the dedicated work of Man. You played all the great opera houses of the world, you broke new ground, you thrilled  millions of people. Grace Bumbry has done that."

I wish I had been there. It behooves us all to sit up straighter and take notice. And make sure to not be one of those "several".

Then I did the crossword puzzle, in ink, and felt a (regrettable) thrill of tawdry triumph.