The year 2018 has commenced.  It may take a couple of days or so to remember that when writing checks or a letter or a thank-you note.  That is, if you still do those three quaint things.   For quite a great number of people debit cards and e-mail have pretty much replaced writing checks and letters.   As to thank-you notes, it is absolutely necessary to write them and mail them and to do it in a timely manner.  Courtesy demands it.  However, I'm not sure we still adhere to tradition concerning thank-yous or dress codes or common courtesy.   I attended a wedding this past week and the invitation read "semi-formal attire."  To me that meant I should be wearing a dark suit and a white shirt with a tie that didn't blind those who would see me dancing with my wife.  She would be wearing a dress; not a skirt or a pant suit.  Semi-formal.  That means attire just short of a tuxedo and a gown.  Or have I become too old, too soon for this generation?  You might imagine I noticed very un-semi-formal attire at the above mentioned wedding.  I kept my mouth shut.  I said not a word to my wife nor to any of my family.  I may have sighed heavily a time or two, but I did not embarrass myself.   Apparently, we've moved to a new permissiveness about wedding attire and funeral attire for that matter.  To quote Cole Porter, "Anything Goes."   As the Year of Our Lord 2018 moves inexorably along, I intend to revel in its blessings and keep my semi-formal attire at the ready.