Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Last night PBS aired some great programs about Abraham Lincoln, a tie-in to this day's bicentennial -- it is Lincoln's 200th birthday. It's a big day for me -- I start stitching "272 Words," the Gettysburg Address sampler which is the subject of this blog. I finally located a cut of linen large enough for the job -- leaving room for design elements that will accompany the text of the speech.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is hailed for its simplicity. He used plain and direct language -- a practice honed when, as a young lawyer, he reduced legal boilerplate documents to everyday language. There's no clutter in Lincoln's speeches -- but I'm surprised to learn that his office was a disaster zone. Much to his law partner's dismay, Lincoln's workstation was a cluttered mess; he kept a folder on his desk labeled -- "When You Can't Find It Anywhere Else, Look Into This."

Wouldn't "Miscellaneous" suffice?