(NON)-DISCLAIMER A LA "DRAGNET"!

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Dum da dum dum:this is NOT a disclaimer!

You know those disclaimers that go something like "names have been changed to protect the innocent;any resemblance between this and actual people you think you know is purely coincidendental" ? Because I am old, I remember statements like that fondly from one of my favorite tv programs of the 50s, "Dragnet." The weekly opening was molto dramatico, with a hand hammering a definitive mark on something, kind of the way I imagined they used to mark criminals. It starred the ever-cool Jack Webb, whom I still find it hard to imagine married to the sultry Julie London. I guess he did, too, since it didn't last.

Anyway, what I am about to say is just the opposite. If you look closely and see stuff that looks familiar, there might be a good reason for that. The only thing I'm aiming for is to protect everyone's anonymity,

So if you think you recognize yourself here, it's because of how much your friendship means to me.

I like to tell my students that my goal is to mark them with a lifelong passion for French. Well, you have marked me with one for you!

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