Why have I been away from the blog for a whole week? Well, to tell you the truth, Damian Thompson’s unwarranted and totally gratuitous attack on my name has rather set me back. It is true that I do not take myself very seriously, and I don’t mind a few jokes at my own expense, however I do feel that people ought to respect the dignity of my name, and hello??!! an attack on my name is an attack on my mother isn’t it because she gave me my name…

As a result I’ve been feeling rather hurt this week. I have to admit it, the rejection hurts deeply. I’ve done nothing but slink around the house in a depressive fog. No appetite. No desire to watch the birds at my feeder or cook five course meals with fresh herbs from my garden and fine wines from my cellar. No desire to write blog posts about traditionalist worship or give my opinion on the latest liturgical errors sent to me from around the world.

All I could think about was the fact that one of the world’s greatest journalists had made fun of my name, and an English journalist at that! All those years I spent in England trying to be the T.S.Eliot de nos jours, trying to fit in with the Oxford-Catholic set–and all for nothing! All those itchy tweeds I endured! How I worked learning how to apologize for the other guys’ fault and queue patiently! Think of the the hours I spent learning how to discuss the weather, the time spent perfecting my faux English accent, studying English church architecture or attempting to understand cricket! Just think, I learned to like warm beer, fish and chips with vinegar, baked beans for breakfast, the pantomime at Christmas, Wimbledon and the carol service from Kings, change ringing, Morris dancers, John Betjemann, beach huts, mushy peas, and car boot sales…all for nought.!!

I was seriously thinking of changing my name to something ordinary and English and manageable like Septimus Thordyke-Ffortescue, but changed my mind and decided to keep plain old ‘Dwight Longenecker’.

Sorry if that’s a let down for anyone!

Seriously, I’ve just had a week off from almost all my duties. Just chillin’. I’ll be up and running again starting today and tomorrow. Y’all come back now y’hear?