observations

I’m Going to Leave This Right Here

It has been months since I have added to my blog here. I’ve been spending my blogging time over at The Pragmatic Historian, keeping up with a weekly blogging habit there. While I focus that blog on the uses of history all over society and I can write about a gazillion different topics with that focus, sometimes I run across something that doesn’t quite fit. I have a habit of pointing out odd package labeling…

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challenge history pragmatic historian

Saving Handwriting for History

My favorite pen is the BIC Round Stic. I know a lot of people appreciate a smooth-flowing pen that glides with no friction across a page. Me, I like a little friction and the Round Stic provides. Black ink, please, not blue. Red is okay if I’m editing. My supply of black BIC Round Stics was getting low at home, so I bought a box. When I got it home, I noticed the following ……

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challenge history pragmatic historian

Maintaining Buildings for the Long-Term

My favorite building in Little Falls, Minnesota, is the U.S. Post Office with its giant Corinthian columns on the front facade. This blocky building covered in red brick speaks of solidity. It’s monumental, yet the smoothness of the columns gives it grace. When I visit, I have a tendency to run my hand over the surface of the columns like they are some sort of talisman. (I may be weird, but I believe buildings like…

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