All Purls. No Swine.
OK, let's acknowledge first of all that I might be--as the lawyers say--making an "admission against interest"--but I'd like to recognize the fact that Francis Scott Key, the author of the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner, was born 245 years ago today, on August 1, 1779. (Check the math, please; it's never my strongest point.)… Continue reading Happy Birthday, Francis Scott Key!
Or maybe the better term is LARPing (which isn’t so easy to fit into a succinct and clever title). In either case, it’s people with privilege (talking about actual, personal, individual privilege, such as students (whatever their background) who’ve been accepted into some of the most elite educational institutions in the world and who, as… Continue reading The State of (Cos)Play
A recent conversation on Ricochet brought to mind a post I wrote in the Dark Ages of social media, in this case, in 2012. Twelve years ago. And it's still there and available to the members, although it can't be viewed on the public Internet. I'm about to fix that. I wrote it just after… Continue reading Why I’ll Always Have a Soft Spot for Bill Clinton, No Matter What
It's an idiom mostly associated with--or so I understand--life in these United States, and it generally means that one gambles on a matter on which one isn't sure of the outcome, but which might return well on an investment, if things work out. Over the course of my life, I've generally taken "fliers" only as… Continue reading Taking a Flier. As it were.
I am totally in your ballpark! But, first, you need to decide: Are you after "authorised" long-lasting images that will follow your son (the future king) into eternity? Or is every photo just a "one-off," the "best amateur sort of shit that could be accomplished at the time by even a person like me with… Continue reading William and Kate: Wanna Post Photos of You and Your Kids? Go for it!
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
Independence is all very well, but we animals never allow our friends to make fools of themselves beyond a certain limit; and that limit you've reached. I've written a few posts on friendship and loyalty over the years. Count this as just another one such. Anyone who's ever read the book (those of you who… Continue reading Quote of the Day: From The Wind in the Willows
Cannot believe it's here already. Where has January gone? And February almost half-over! (That it isn't quite, in about 23 hours--in my time zone--can only be attributed to the fact that this is a leap year.) Ubi sunt? (The Latinistas among us (the one or two that I know of) will understand this.) It's a… Continue reading Pancake Tuesday, 2024
You remember him. He’s the United States Marine who–while still on active duty–excoriated his chain of command regarding their decision to leave Afghanistan in August of 2021. There were several posts about it on Ricochet at, and just after, the time (some of them even by me) Here are a few of them: https://ricochet.com/1036403/honor-courage-and-commitment-a-usmc-ltcol-speaks-out/ https://ricochet.com/1036424/pointed-questions/… Continue reading Whatever Happened to LtCol Stuart Scheller, USMC, Fired?
Oh, my giddy aunt. Such excitement in the US this evening. Joe Biden was to "speak" at 7:45pm Eastern time (12:45GMT). Could he be resigning? Or at the very least, announcing that he wasn't going to run for President again later this year? Oh, pleeze, pleeze, pleeze, God. Let it be true. Umm. No. Ever… Continue reading You Thought Biden Was Going To Resign? Have You Been Living Under a Rock? Or Just Floating in an Otherworldly Bubble With Two or Three of Your Loony Friends?