All Purls. No Swine.
Every year, for almost more years than I can count whether we're together or apart, my family has raised a glass each Christmas season to those we love but won’t see again in this world, and to those we love who are still with us, but who are not able to share our celebration, because… Continue reading …To Absent Friends and Loved Ones, 2024…
I occasionally listen to Ben Shapiro's podcast, which I find--in about equal parts--annoying as hell, very much on-point, and generally literate. (The final point distinguishes him from Dave Rubin, whose heart might be in the right place, but who regularly exposes himself as largely unserious and quite ignorant. The last time I noticed that was… Continue reading Ben Shapiro, Movie Critic?
Last week, there was a mouse in the house. I was beginning to fear that might be the case, given the cats’ sudden interest in whatever they thought was going on behind the closet under the stairs (the back of said closet is one of those concertina-type folding vinyl doors which, when slid open, lets… Continue reading Weird Christmas Traditions, Down Here on the Farm
Story of my life. Still, that's not really the point of today's Quote of the Day: Translated from the Italian, it's Nessun Dorma. And it's an aria from Puccini's Turandot. (I'm not engaging in the proper pronunciations of the work. You can look here for more, or less, clarification, however it suits you.) It's a… Continue reading QOTD: None Shall Sleep
A repost, because it matters: Here dead we lie because we did not choose To live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose; But young men think it is, and we were young. —A.E. Housman I think of Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) as my “hometown”… Continue reading Uniquely Human Memories–2024
A popular modification (so my mother told me) of perhaps the world's most ubiquitous Christmas hymn, from the year 1936. And a replay (mostly) of a post from some years ago, both here and on Ricochet: I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King… Continue reading “Hark the Herald Angels Sing…Mrs Simpson’s Got Our King!”
At the time, it took a little while for "breaking news" to encircle the globe. Unsurprisingly, though, Hawaii addressed it in a timely fashion, in an "extra" edition of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, on Monday, December 7 itself: The sub-heading reads, "SIX KNOWN DEAD." There would turn out to be more than 2,300 dead U.S.… Continue reading December 7, 1941: A Date Which Will Live in Infamy
Whoops. I missed it. Yesterday, November 29, 2024 was the 126th birthday of one of my favorite writers in all of recorded history, Clive Staples (Jack) Lewis. I've written about him often, even when it wasn't his birthday, but today I'm going to do a bit of a rehash of a post from a few… Continue reading Quote of the Day: “To Love is to be Vulnerable”
I don't need to get into Matt Gaetz or Pete Hegseth territory here. Let's just takes Trump's nominees for FDA Commissioner, CDC Director, and Surgeon General. Let's start with one article: What to know about Trump's picks for CDC, FDA and surgeon general. It's from NPR. Taxpayer-funded broadcasting. Here's another, what PBS has to say… Continue reading Wilful and Politically-Biased Ignorance: The Mainstream Media’s Reportage on Trump’s Picks
My daily dose of history, specifically for November 21, informs me that I should be aware that, 44 years ago today, on November 21, 1980, "Millions tune[d] in to find out who shot J.R." Aside from the fact that I'm not sure that "millions" tune in anymore to find out what's going on anywhere on… Continue reading Who, or What, Shot J.R.? (Whoever He Was)