With the anticipated thousands [million+?] of heroic protestors on April 5th (actually any and all days, including Women's March) here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-29-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Mayor Michelle Wu, J im Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens, Melvin Gurai
Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth,Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson--
American Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Protect Democracy, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters, Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday, The American Manifesto
The Dr. Martin Luther King Center.
And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.
* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal,
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.
Wilmer Hale
Keker, Van Nest & Peters
Southern Poverty Law Center
Perhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity"
I hope Jess Piper sees your comment! On second thought, could you publish your comment as a substack article so it could be easily shared on Threads and/or Bluesky?
Please add Thomas Clever (TCinLA). His That’s Another Fine Mess on substack is as opposition as it gets. Also I didn’t see Greg Olear. Hope this is a partial list. Also, I may be mistaken.
I love this, Greg! I picked your edition of Gatsby up for my son who turns 31 on Friday. I’m honestly not sure if he’s ever read it, but he’s very good about reading the books I push in his direction. Gatsby has always been one of my favorites and I hope he enjoys it as much as I do.
Wow! Your work is amazing. Work ethic too. Thanks for educating us.
I have learned so much more outside of the classroom in my life. Perhaps more experiential learning might /should be integrated into university and even high school programs. Billserle.com
Greg, a most limpid foreword! I've got about a half dozen Gatsbys kicking around our house, in conditions ranging from "brilliant uncirculated" to "fair" (which as a fellow numismatist you know is a euphemism for indecipherable) and, as soon as I get done here, I'll be heading over to Amazon, holding my nose, and adding yours to them. It's such a great project -- may it thrive and bear much fruit! Sad is a life without a green light, though magical only when seen in the far distance over dark water.
Thanks, Jon. I also have a bunch of them...I basically buy them whenever they turn up at the book fair. That and Durrell's JUSTINE. I'm going to keep the project going, and learn as I go...green light and all... ; )
What a beautiful forward, Greg! I loved the book and it’s time for a re-read - I’m very much looking forward to your annotations. Congratulations! Joan Q, a/k/a Joan In Leucadia
Enjoyed your forward! The Age of Unreality and the first Four Sticks Press Centennial Edition, F. Scott Fitzgerald will be enjoyed and placed in my forever trunk to be passed along to my now, eight-year-old granddaughter, along with my Hemingway novels and copy of Gatsby. Everything written today will become a treasured archive of the most tragic period in American history, and those who follow will have the answer to the question, “What was happening when I was eight years old?” Discovering more about creative works is a time-well-spent endeavor, with your linking the past to the present, and bringing enjoyment of fresh perspectives that challenge our understanding of those works. In Trump world, it seems the wealthiest are most restless and unhappy, choosing a strategy of money accumulation, power grabbing, and crime (for excitement) to alleviate misery, which becomes a vicious circle. As having everything is impossible, the strategy becomes make everyone else miserable.
Thanks so much, Beverly. I am happy to be in such esteemed company in your forever trunk! I never thought of them doing crime just for excitement, but I suspect you're right, that after a point, it's not the wealth as much as how much they can get away with...which is, I suppose, one way to quantify power.
Been a free subscriber for a while, just upgraded today after reading your great gatsby analysis. I’m 72 and just packing up the condo my husband and I just sold in Florida. I’m alone, because soon after we bought it, he got sick with some Gatsby like illnesses, so he is in a facility and I am picking up the detritus of a life of too much consumption. Certainly not rich, just 2 hardworking people who led a typical American life raising 3 good kids, and saving our money to….haven't figured that out yet. Hope to travel, because I haven’t done much in a too busy, too consumptive life as a working mother.
Of all the substacks I follow, I love your combination of political commentary, history, and literary knowledge. I have learned a lot from you, someone at least 20 years my junior. As fellow recovering Catholic and Jersey-raised, thank you for your hard work.
As a fellow traveler down much of the same road, but older, I have enjoyed Greg’s incredible ability to combine and meld the improbable into such fascinating posts. Will order the book today.
Kathy, thanks so much for subscribing. I very much appreciate it. This is a lovely community here in the comment boards, and I trust you will find it welcome here. I'm sorry for your husband's condition, and I hope you find some peace in your retirement. Thanks again!
I read Gatsby as a callow LSU English major in the 60s. It wasn't until the 2000s when I read it again in my seventies did I realize Nick Carraway was gay. I was gobsmacked.
I've become just too damned old to remember whether I've read "The Great Gatsby" or not, but I'm coming down on the side of "not," so this will be a golden opportunity to read it. I can't think of a better way to read it than an edition published by, and recommended by, Greg Olear.
I recently finished reading, "Careless People," the book about Facebook, and I believe the title was taken from the Fitzgerald piece you quoted here: "They were careless people…they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” And after reading the book, [spoiler alert!] it became VERY clear that the title, taken from this quote, was absolute perfection when applied to the Facebook people, especially Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandburg. They are truly monstrous creatures, BOTH of them, along with the minions that continue to surround them. Although Sandburg is no longer with Facebook, her influence continues to permeate everything.
I'm almost finished with "The Fourth Turning is Here," and I hope to finish it just as the Kindle edition of "The Great Gatsby" comes out. A few months ago, someone in the comments recommended "Fourth Turning," and I put it on my read list. I may become an evangelist for it! What we're going through now HAS happened before; not in the same way, of course, but history back to the 16th century is certainly rhyming every 80-100 years. I feel smarter, MUCH smarter, for having read it, and I encourage everyone to read it AFTER what looks to be this magnificent 100th Anniversary edition of "The Great Gatsby."
Now. Let's see what "interesting times" are in store for us this week. "Gird your loins!"
So far, this week has yielded, for me, a stomach bug that made my train ride home most uncomfortable and knocked me out of commission for a few days...but also Cory Booker, and some hope about the April 5th protests.
You will of course bang through Gatsby in an afternoon, and I'd be shocked if you didn't like it at least a little.
I read GENERATIONS many years ago, which I really liked, and I'm curious about FOURTH TURNING. Thanks for reminding me!
Lost Internet, not on my 47 bingo card. Gawd, what else.
I enjoyed your mention of the editor's contribution to Gatsby. More glamorous role than ghostwriter but only just. So many flavors of editor -- acquisitions, developmental, permissions, illustrations, copy, and more. Very different talents. I do development and play Casper. My previously mentioned NYC-editor lunch companion advised, "Never become a copyeditor." (By sheer coincidence, the occupation of his ex-wife.) Definitely agree. All that rule-memorizing rots the brain. Development involves artistry as well as tact and psychology -- throughout, not just after manuscript completion. Fortunately, recalling every rule in AP and Chicago, is someone else's job. And although I idolize Steinbeck, my hero is Covici. Favorite love tale, "Steinbeck and Covici: The Story of a Friendship."
Profound congratulations on your new book. Creating, enhancing, and preserving literature is a wonderful occupation. Despite the "abridged classic," there remain people who treasure reading. As one erudite Redditor articulates, "Yo, what the fuck's the point of an 'abridged' book? [...] seems like a scam".
Seriously, what a wonderful forward. Your brilliantly researched writing about MAGA is so important in these disastrous days, but it's nice to read your equally well-crafted take on someone not so...orange. Thank you for sharing that and so much more. Rushing now to buy the book. Go MAGGA!!
Thanks so much, Maureen. I'm so glad you liked the opening. A good editor is worth her weight in gold, for sure. Like a director coaxes the best performance out of the actor, so it is with a great editor. I don't know Covici and will have to investigate.
I worked at AP, but their insistence on not using the Oxford comma drives me bonkers...
More than ever you remind me of the hardworking, passionate post-WW2s French writers, annealed in the fires of the 1930s and '40s, who cared about _everything:_ the colonizers & the colonized, at home and outside, the victims and the processes of persecution, the movies, books past & present; the shapes & modalities of the future shaping up before their eyes; the language.
With the anticipated thousands [million+?] of heroic protestors on April 5th (actually any and all days, including Women's March) here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-29-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:
I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Mayor Michelle Wu, J im Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens, Melvin Gurai
Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth,Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson--
American Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Protect Democracy, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters, Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday, The American Manifesto
The Dr. Martin Luther King Center.
And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.
* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal,
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)
Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)
Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)
Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.
Wilmer Hale
Keker, Van Nest & Peters
Southern Poverty Law Center
Perhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity"
Thank you for this! I LOVE it -- and YES, we are NOT alone!! Keep fighting and showing up everyone!
I hope Jess Piper sees your comment! On second thought, could you publish your comment as a substack article so it could be easily shared on Threads and/or Bluesky?
Please add Thomas Clever (TCinLA). His That’s Another Fine Mess on substack is as opposition as it gets. Also I didn’t see Greg Olear. Hope this is a partial list. Also, I may be mistaken.
I love this. And as if we need to be reminded, Cory Booker was up there hammering the point home. Solidarity!
Greg, you inspire me ! Looking forward to this great book. Thank you.
Thank you, Helen!
I love this, Greg! I picked your edition of Gatsby up for my son who turns 31 on Friday. I’m honestly not sure if he’s ever read it, but he’s very good about reading the books I push in his direction. Gatsby has always been one of my favorites and I hope he enjoys it as much as I do.
Thank you! Please let me know what he thinks, if he does read it.
Of course!
Wow! Your work is amazing. Work ethic too. Thanks for educating us.
I have learned so much more outside of the classroom in my life. Perhaps more experiential learning might /should be integrated into university and even high school programs. Billserle.com
Thanks, Bill. Much appreciated!
Greg, a most limpid foreword! I've got about a half dozen Gatsbys kicking around our house, in conditions ranging from "brilliant uncirculated" to "fair" (which as a fellow numismatist you know is a euphemism for indecipherable) and, as soon as I get done here, I'll be heading over to Amazon, holding my nose, and adding yours to them. It's such a great project -- may it thrive and bear much fruit! Sad is a life without a green light, though magical only when seen in the far distance over dark water.
Thanks, Jon. I also have a bunch of them...I basically buy them whenever they turn up at the book fair. That and Durrell's JUSTINE. I'm going to keep the project going, and learn as I go...green light and all... ; )
Love it. Make America Great Gatsby Again!
Congratulations on the new book, Greg. I hope to read it soon. :)
Thanks, Paulina! Much appreciated.
What a beautiful forward, Greg! I loved the book and it’s time for a re-read - I’m very much looking forward to your annotations. Congratulations! Joan Q, a/k/a Joan In Leucadia
Thanks so much, Joan!
Maybe it's balance. I reread, "Between The World and Me," by Ta-Nehesi Coates this week. Good Luck with your book.
Thanks, Sara. I forgot about that one...I should read it again...
Enjoyed your forward! The Age of Unreality and the first Four Sticks Press Centennial Edition, F. Scott Fitzgerald will be enjoyed and placed in my forever trunk to be passed along to my now, eight-year-old granddaughter, along with my Hemingway novels and copy of Gatsby. Everything written today will become a treasured archive of the most tragic period in American history, and those who follow will have the answer to the question, “What was happening when I was eight years old?” Discovering more about creative works is a time-well-spent endeavor, with your linking the past to the present, and bringing enjoyment of fresh perspectives that challenge our understanding of those works. In Trump world, it seems the wealthiest are most restless and unhappy, choosing a strategy of money accumulation, power grabbing, and crime (for excitement) to alleviate misery, which becomes a vicious circle. As having everything is impossible, the strategy becomes make everyone else miserable.
Thanks so much, Beverly. I am happy to be in such esteemed company in your forever trunk! I never thought of them doing crime just for excitement, but I suspect you're right, that after a point, it's not the wealth as much as how much they can get away with...which is, I suppose, one way to quantify power.
I appreciate your work so much..,it must live on and prevail.
Been a free subscriber for a while, just upgraded today after reading your great gatsby analysis. I’m 72 and just packing up the condo my husband and I just sold in Florida. I’m alone, because soon after we bought it, he got sick with some Gatsby like illnesses, so he is in a facility and I am picking up the detritus of a life of too much consumption. Certainly not rich, just 2 hardworking people who led a typical American life raising 3 good kids, and saving our money to….haven't figured that out yet. Hope to travel, because I haven’t done much in a too busy, too consumptive life as a working mother.
Of all the substacks I follow, I love your combination of political commentary, history, and literary knowledge. I have learned a lot from you, someone at least 20 years my junior. As fellow recovering Catholic and Jersey-raised, thank you for your hard work.
As a fellow traveler down much of the same road, but older, I have enjoyed Greg’s incredible ability to combine and meld the improbable into such fascinating posts. Will order the book today.
Thanks so much, JD!
Kathy, thanks so much for subscribing. I very much appreciate it. This is a lovely community here in the comment boards, and I trust you will find it welcome here. I'm sorry for your husband's condition, and I hope you find some peace in your retirement. Thanks again!
You made me get misty. Thanks, I needed that.
And thanks for the reminder to not stay too alone, too online. Gotta get fresh air now and then.
Thanks, Mary Ann. I think this week, a lot of people will be out and about and reminded of the fresh air. Maybe something good is in the air? Maybe?
"an art in which words were subordinate to images"
IOW, the reversal of the Alphabet v Goddess hypothesis.
A correction, perhaps?
Ooo, you're right!
I read Gatsby as a callow LSU English major in the 60s. It wasn't until the 2000s when I read it again in my seventies did I realize Nick Carraway was gay. I was gobsmacked.
That was my Salon essay from 2013. There's SO MUCH evidence in there suggesting it...but just enough to make it not positive.
I've become just too damned old to remember whether I've read "The Great Gatsby" or not, but I'm coming down on the side of "not," so this will be a golden opportunity to read it. I can't think of a better way to read it than an edition published by, and recommended by, Greg Olear.
I recently finished reading, "Careless People," the book about Facebook, and I believe the title was taken from the Fitzgerald piece you quoted here: "They were careless people…they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” And after reading the book, [spoiler alert!] it became VERY clear that the title, taken from this quote, was absolute perfection when applied to the Facebook people, especially Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandburg. They are truly monstrous creatures, BOTH of them, along with the minions that continue to surround them. Although Sandburg is no longer with Facebook, her influence continues to permeate everything.
I'm almost finished with "The Fourth Turning is Here," and I hope to finish it just as the Kindle edition of "The Great Gatsby" comes out. A few months ago, someone in the comments recommended "Fourth Turning," and I put it on my read list. I may become an evangelist for it! What we're going through now HAS happened before; not in the same way, of course, but history back to the 16th century is certainly rhyming every 80-100 years. I feel smarter, MUCH smarter, for having read it, and I encourage everyone to read it AFTER what looks to be this magnificent 100th Anniversary edition of "The Great Gatsby."
Now. Let's see what "interesting times" are in store for us this week. "Gird your loins!"
Thanks, Steve.
So far, this week has yielded, for me, a stomach bug that made my train ride home most uncomfortable and knocked me out of commission for a few days...but also Cory Booker, and some hope about the April 5th protests.
You will of course bang through Gatsby in an afternoon, and I'd be shocked if you didn't like it at least a little.
I read GENERATIONS many years ago, which I really liked, and I'm curious about FOURTH TURNING. Thanks for reminding me!
Lost Internet, not on my 47 bingo card. Gawd, what else.
I enjoyed your mention of the editor's contribution to Gatsby. More glamorous role than ghostwriter but only just. So many flavors of editor -- acquisitions, developmental, permissions, illustrations, copy, and more. Very different talents. I do development and play Casper. My previously mentioned NYC-editor lunch companion advised, "Never become a copyeditor." (By sheer coincidence, the occupation of his ex-wife.) Definitely agree. All that rule-memorizing rots the brain. Development involves artistry as well as tact and psychology -- throughout, not just after manuscript completion. Fortunately, recalling every rule in AP and Chicago, is someone else's job. And although I idolize Steinbeck, my hero is Covici. Favorite love tale, "Steinbeck and Covici: The Story of a Friendship."
Profound congratulations on your new book. Creating, enhancing, and preserving literature is a wonderful occupation. Despite the "abridged classic," there remain people who treasure reading. As one erudite Redditor articulates, "Yo, what the fuck's the point of an 'abridged' book? [...] seems like a scam".
Seriously, what a wonderful forward. Your brilliantly researched writing about MAGA is so important in these disastrous days, but it's nice to read your equally well-crafted take on someone not so...orange. Thank you for sharing that and so much more. Rushing now to buy the book. Go MAGGA!!
Thanks so much, Maureen. I'm so glad you liked the opening. A good editor is worth her weight in gold, for sure. Like a director coaxes the best performance out of the actor, so it is with a great editor. I don't know Covici and will have to investigate.
I worked at AP, but their insistence on not using the Oxford comma drives me bonkers...
Ha, the comma! A wise man!
More than ever you remind me of the hardworking, passionate post-WW2s French writers, annealed in the fires of the 1930s and '40s, who cared about _everything:_ the colonizers & the colonized, at home and outside, the victims and the processes of persecution, the movies, books past & present; the shapes & modalities of the future shaping up before their eyes; the language.
Richard, what a nice thing to read. I take that as a great and generous compliment, and I thank you...although I could do without any more fires...