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21

Allende -- And then there is another expression that you use, poosh in the face. Is that all right for girls to use? I first heard it from a girl. She said to her brother, "Oh, I theenk I heard someone say he was going to poosh yor face in." 

And I laughed and laughed, so perfectly killing it was to hear him say this in his very careful, precise English with the Spanish accent, and so serious too. We laughed together and I almost choked on a sandwich. ...... Allende certainly has had education. He graduated from the university in Chile (I think in Valparaiso), came here and took graduate work at Harvard, Swarthmore and U. of P., went to Europe and studied at Bremen and the Sorbonne. Moreover, he is just as well up on art, literature, and music as he is on engineering. The four magazines he reads are the Atlantic Monthly, American Mercury, Dial, and AIEE Journal. At the Stevens Sunday, he gave a comparison of the styles of Robert Louis Stevenson and Anatole France. Ye Gods, I've never even read anything of Anatole France although Mother has "The Wicker Work Woman" at home. Don't you think that to know and associate with such people is a fine thing for one, a real stimulation to one's worthwhile tastes? I am sure that you are going to appreciate all the manifold advantages that the graet GE offers to one in the way of feeling in touch with great things, and making the acquaintance of people who are often great, and if not great, at least very unusual and interesting. 

Erie, Pa.,
Wednesday, January 20, 1926.

Due to a particularly busy time the last few days, I have been unable to write anything and it is now Saturday afternoon. As this is not a diary but rather a journal, I'm not going to be so particular about catching each day exactly. The important thing is to get down in here the worthwhile things that have happened, and particularly the worthwhile [[underlined]] thoughts [[/underlined]]. I've meant to record that Willie and I have decided to change our letter writing policy from "one a day" to a "two or three a week" plan, both agreeing that by doing that, we both will have more time to write really worthwhile letters that will do both of us more good than the letters we are now obliged to rush off under the press of awaiting dates, engagements, or the realization we should be asleep for our health's sake. We both agree it seems like the wisest policy. I wrote to Mother about Willie and I adopting a different letter-writing policy, never meaning to suggest I stop writing her every day but evidently she thought I wanted her to suggest that we adopt a similar policy, for it was evident she was hurt. I am horribly thoughtless and inconsiderate at times. I must try to stop it as it is a sharp weapon and can hurt people awfully even though unintentionally wielded.