My good friend and museum colleague David Grabitske is back again with another erudite blog post. This one stems from the oft-recommended notion that nonprofits should operate more like businesses. We have discussed the topic many times and I have been contrary about it for years. In fact, I wrote about it back in 2011 on my blog, The Woo Woo Teacup Journal. David, however, has set about finding proof that businesses have learned something…
Last week’s blog post, “Two Broken Hips Away from Closing,” was inspired by a tweet from historian Larry Cebula. This week’s post is inspired by a tweet from historian David Grabitske (as seen above) in response to that post. Last year around about this time, I came to the realization that history is part of a community’s infrastructure and I wrote about it here. Since then, any time I have the opportunity, I tell people…
The Scientific Method Show of hands. Who here has heard of the Scientific Method? Likely, without looking it up, most everyone could list a few of the steps involved with the Scientific Method. There’s coming up with a question and making a hypothesis and testing the hypothesis and … how many steps are there? Even if you can’t list all the steps in order, you’ve at least heard of the Scientific Method because it has…
I just finished reading a novel by Alena Graedon called “The Word Exchange.” The basic plot is that technology, both in the form of handheld devices called “Memes” and a wearable called “Nautilus,” causes what is called a word flu, wherein people start substituting regular words with nonsense words. For some, the flu, which also causes other physical symptoms, is deadly, or it may cause a permanent “silencing” of individuals. Of course, corporate greed and…
Today’s post is by historian and guest writer David Grabitske, who is the Site Manager for the Landmark Inn, a site owned by the Texas Historical Commission. Cliffhangers of History I remember the summer of 1980. I was 10 and it was the last summer my family lived in Maryland. The previous summer the family had gone to Ocean City, Maryland, on a premium of a time share company. The catch was the family had…