Shannon Costello

Repetition isn’t bad!

I try to make at least one meal every week that I know will make good leftovers.  Of course leftovers can be problematic in a family of two.  One can only eat chile so many times before one gets sick of it.  And there seems to be a magic point- say after a  week in the refrigerator- beyond which something deep within me simply refuses to touch leftovers.

I look forward to reading the Washington Post every Sunday afternoon, particularly Outlook (op-ed).   The paper seems to be widely condemned among conservatives for being too liberal (Oh, you read the Washington Compost, do you?) but I think the paper makes an effort to be reasonable, which is more than I can say for certain right-wing radio talk show hosts.

But I’m not writing here to knock the conservative media.   There is a really cool writing technique, which I’m sure I’ve used lots, of ending a piece by repetition- catching up a thread of something one has mentioned earlier.  Perhaps one refers back to the introduction, or an interesting example.  End result:  conclusion with a punch.  I like it!

But just this Sunday I suddenly felt I’d seen that type of ending in Outlook a few too many times.

The leftovers are starting to stink.