Aes Alienum, Week 9

Another’s Brass

For those who have not read Week 1’s post, “another’s brass” is the translation Thoreau gives of “aes alienum” in Walden. I adopt Thoreau’s phrase to my own purposes: I use this forum to share with other’s what I’ve read through the week, not for the remuneration, but because it makes me read more carefully. That’s my payoff.

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This week’s newsletter comes out on Monday, a day later than planned. I had some car repairs to do and was this close to being finished when I snapped the head off a bolt. Removing the headless shaft and then finding a replacement for a 26-year-old car added hours to my task. So, I ran late on everything downstream of that, including Another’s Brass.

The bolt arrives Wednesday. We’ll …