My recent post about my stepdaughter mentioned her sense of humor and cited a letter of introduction she wrote about me to a group of ladies we didn't know, but with whom we were embarking on a trip to Italy. Among the many (excellent) qualities she related regarding her stepmother, there was this: Also, RWKJ… Continue reading The Story of Oliver
Category: Life
Quote of the Day: On Old Age
The value of old age depends upon the person who reaches it. To some men of early performance it is useless. To others, who are late to develop, it just enables them to finish the job. Today's quote of the day comes from a prolific novelist, Thomas Hardy, who was born 184 years ago, on… Continue reading Quote of the Day: On Old Age
“War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth”–Ernie Pyle
Ernie Pyle died 79 years ago today, on April 18, 1945 in the Iejima Okinawa Prefecture of the Empire of Japan, killed in action while doing what he loved. Having missed out on his first ambition–to serve in World War I–he undertook the study of journalism at Indiana University, and eventually found a career at… Continue reading “War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth”–Ernie Pyle
On Granny. Oh, and On Chocolate, Too. And a Few Other Things As Well
On this April 16, 2024, a day that would have been my grandmother Molly's 126th birthday, I bring back a post originally published on Ricochet on April 16--Easter Sunday--2017. Happy Birthday, Granny! My grandmother Molly could be a rather stern old lady. She was born when Queen Victoria was still on the throne, on April… Continue reading On Granny. Oh, and On Chocolate, Too. And a Few Other Things As Well
The Brief Sum of Life–In Praise of the Liberal Arts
So sue me. I've never really pretended to a deep acquaintance with, nor understanding of, mid twentieth-century American playwrights and screenwriters. And so we have Days of Wine and Roses, a 1958 teleplay by JP Miller with Cliff Robertson and Piper Laurie , which I've always gotten spectacularly mixed up with Splendor in the Grass,… Continue reading The Brief Sum of Life–In Praise of the Liberal Arts
Easter 2024: On Silk Purses, Sow’s Ears, and Horse’s Asses
My maternal Great Granny was a fearsome old bat. She was born in 1869, just four short years after the US Civil War ended and (only five days subsequently) Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. She died a few months before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. What a lifespan. I was fourteen when she died, and… Continue reading Easter 2024: On Silk Purses, Sow’s Ears, and Horse’s Asses
The Garden Path
Have you ever been, "led up/down the garden path?" Do you even know what the phrase means? If you don't, perhaps this will help (from Merriam Webster): : to deceive (someone) : to cause (someone) to go, think, or proceed wrongly. Many of us are vulnerable when it comes to folks we trust in our lives. Frankly, if… Continue reading The Garden Path
Lloyd Austin–For Fuck’s Sake, Don’t Be A Jerk
Good grief. Not sure what's wrong with the US military retired, all the way from Generals down to Field Grade Officers. I think it's pretty safe to say that the grunts--the enlisted--the sad sacks, the jarheads, the squids, etc. don't suffer from this foolish nonsense, but honestly! LTC Vindman. General Mark (I'm in China's Corner)… Continue reading Lloyd Austin–For Fuck’s Sake, Don’t Be A Jerk
December 20, 2023
I woke up in the dark today at 0630 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit--minus 8.8 Celsius--temperatures, and a rather chilly bedroom. Long story, never mind. A few short hours later, the air temperature outside was only 35F (slightly above freezing). But--because of the cloudless sky and bright sunshine--the temperature in my little sunroom was 80F (26.6C). … Continue reading December 20, 2023
Come, Come Thou Bleak December Wind (from Coleridge, Fragment 3)
December 1, 2023 is the anniversary of a great many consequential events: 68 years since seamstress Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus; 888 years since England’s King Henry I died after eating a “surfeit of lampreys” (anyone who’s ever actually seen (or thought about) a lamprey may find… Continue reading Come, Come Thou Bleak December Wind (from Coleridge, Fragment 3)