Covery

[dennis grace]

Greetings, Cosyns,

My name is Lyonel, and I am a herald.

In a recent missive, Angus took note of my signature:
  
>> Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace, recovering herald
>> _____________________________

And claimed:
>Hey! There ain't no such thing as a recovering herald! Once you get the
>disease, your hooked for life! I mean, really, how can you recover from a
>terminal disease any how?

It's only terminal if you don't survive the reign.  For this reason,
baronial heralds are in greater danger than Crown heralds.  Consulting
heralds, however--well, I can't use that kind of language on the list ;^>

As for "hooked for life," c'est vrai, but that's what the Herald's Anonymous
12-step program is all about.  You're never an ex-herald, Angus, but it's a
promising sign that you realize this.  It shows you've gotten past that
I-can-quit-whenever-I-feel-like-it stage.  We all know how that goes.  First
it's "Hey, I'll just blazon my friend's arms.  I'm a big boy.  I know my
consultation limits.  I can handle this one little single-charge blazon."
Next you're trying to support putting some egotistical fighter's weird-ass
12th century Inca surgical tool on his arms or digging through the reference
section of the UT library looking for your girlfriend's surname; before you
know it you're strung out on onomastics trying to score a Fox-Davies from
the trash receptacle at Half-Price Books.

We understand, Angus.  We're there for you, brother.  The fact that you
realize you have a problem proves there is still hope!

Taking this whole thing one tincture at a time, je reste

Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace, recovering herald.
_____________________________
Dennis Grace
University of Texas at Austin
English Department
Recovering Medievalist
amazing at mail.utexas.edu

Things are more like they are today than they have ever been before.
                                                  --Dwight D. Eisenhower

(Don't Republicans say just the cutest things?)