It’s Indepence Day in the United States. Historian Heather Cox Richardson has a marvelous newsletter to mark the occasion, one that reminds us to live up to our highest ideals in this country, rather than sink into our lowest manifestations of a society. We haven’t been doing a good job of reaching the ideals of life, liberty, equality, or the pursuit of happiness lately. There’s a sliver of people who would rob the majority of…
I am creeping up on my 15th blog anniversary, come September 8, 2021. Fourteen-plus years! I can’t believe it’s been that long or that I’d still be in love with this format after all this time. (Here’s where I started.) Periodically over these years I’ve done a bit of naval gazing about the topic of blogging, usually triggered by something I’ve read. Such is the case with this post. I recently read a great blog…
Olio: A miscellaneous collection of things (or, when I was trying to remember the definition of olio, what popped to mind was “random shit”). When I started this blog 6 years ago, I wanted a way to share miscellaneous stuff that I found interesting but with a heading I could use habitually, so I could find this stuff again. Hence, “olio.” My last olio post was in April 2016. Not sure how I lost track…
As an artist and writer, I am constantly looking for inspiration. What should I make next? What should I write next? Having worked in the history field for over 20 years, I’ve come to realize that I’ll never run out of inspiration if I keep looking to the past. The past helps me create now. The past will help me create in the future. I’ve been infinitely inspired by articles in old newspapers for my…
My year of rereading is falling apart somewhat. I started reading Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” after hearing it mentioned a couple of times within a week. It’s a book my eldest son recommended to me a while ago, but given what is happening in our country currently, it felt like now was the time to read it. It’s an excellent book that explains how Frankl, the survivor of 4 concentration camps during the…