Archive for February, 2012
a little family history
In February of 1912, my great-grandmother – the one I’m named for – traveled from London to America on the SS St. Paul. According to the ship’s manifest (which I can see at Ellisisland.org), she was around 30 and her children were 16, 5, 3 (my grandfather), and 1. Her oldest son was already in […]
ganging agley
How I planned to spend today: Row Eat a bagel Vegetate (physically) on the couch, while reading over something for a friend, filling out some forms,and writing an essay Make jambalaya How I actually spent today: Got up early (for a Sunday) and took a train to Amsterdam Took a tram to Leidseplein Met up […]
not entirely a wasted day
Yesterday, I upgraded my work computer to Windows 7. That makes it sound like I chose to do it; I didn’t. I was scheduled and given instructions to do it at a particular time but then had to actually do it myself. It went OK in that I didn’t lose anything, but it did take […]
a bit less tired
I spent all weekend vaguely unwell, but I don’t really know why – no real symptoms except for being completely exhausted, and when I ate something, from Saturday night on, I’d just feel even more tired and a tiny bit queasy. I seem to be better now. One theory is that I just didn’t eat […]
book: The Scent of Water, by Elizabeth GOudge
One of these days I should start waiting until I’m done reading books to review them, but it’s always while I’m in the throes that I want to talk about them. For some reason, Elizabeth Goudge’s The Scent of Water is available on Kindle – the only one of hers that is – and so […]
This is the way we Rise Up
^^^ Gratuitous Pratchett quote. That song would definitely be included in the Discworld version of Rise Up Singing. This guy has a project – and has had since 2008, to record and and post every song from the Rise Up Singing songbook. With commentary. Given my deep and fiery love for that book, and the […]
The Glory of Repetition
Step by step the longest march can be won, can be won; Many stones may build an arch, singly none, singly none. Dip your blades deep in the shining water, pull, uncurling like a metered spring. Feel the boat beneath you taking wing; The river holds you where your oars have caught her. Do it […]
Shakespeare and relevance
There’s a very annoying current song, “Grenade” by Bruno Mars. (Don’t click on that link if you don’t want to be earwormed. It goes to a video of the song, which is so bothers me precisely because the lyrics are so annoying, while the tune is very catchy. It’s a lethal combination.) It occurred to […]
being right is not the same as being unquestionable
In general, it’s fair to categorize me as a liberal. I’m never thrilled with labels, though, because they oversimplify. I have a slight lean toward libertarianism, because I want the government to quit interfering with my wallet and my life decisions. It’s only a slight lean, though, because I do believe that the government needs […]
home again
It’s probably going to be a multi-entry day – I have a few things to say today. First, I’m home, though I’d be even happier about that if I weren’t home alone. The plan was to meet Ted at Schiphol (the Amsterdam airport) for dinner, so we could see each other between my business trip […]