One of the most important uses of history is to use it to work ourselves out of predicaments we are facing RIGHT NOW. It’s easy to assume that because history is about what happened in the past, we can set it aside. That it has nothing to say to us now because conditions were different in the past. Except that humanity seems to cycle through the same sorts of challenges even when presented with what…
I ran across a cool new tool on Twitter recently. Created by tech writer Clive Thompson (@pomeranian99 on Twitter), the tool strips all the letters from your writing, leaving you only the punctuation. It’s called Just the Punctuation [https://just-the-punctuation.glitch.me]. If you’re a writer, go ahead and give it a try. Paste some of your writing into the box and click the Submit button at the bottom. It helps if you use a substantial piece of…
After publishing last week’s post about a thought experiment regarding setting up a history museum that has no collection but uses short-term loans, I got some feedback on LinkedIn. David Grabitske (yes, him again!) said he knew of someone who was part of such a museum. The museum of loaned artifacts – for reals! – is the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas. Tom Wancho, exhibit planner for the museum, said in our…
As a fiber artist, when each of my three children were born, I saw it as an opportunity to make them baptism gowns. Eldest son’s baptism gown was a joint effort between me and my sister-in-law Stacy. I wove the fabric and she designed the gown and jacket using the fabric. As a less-confident sewer at that point, I was hesitant to cut my handwoven fabric, so I was really happy to have Stacy’s help.…
Last night, Hubby and I attended the new play, “Darling,” written by Teryn Verley and performed by the Little Falls Summer Musical group. The play is a fictionalized version of the 1905 unsolved murder of a young woman named Annie Kintop. Annie lived in the small community of Darling in Morrison County, MN. Because there were so many suspects and the murder remained unsolved, it’s a story that has received a lot of interest over…