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January 29
Today is the day, in 1980, that the Rubik’s Cube was introduced to the world. By the end of the year, it seemed like everybody had one. It was a full-fledged craze. The best-selling book just the next year was about solving it. By 1982 there was a world championship in cube-solving. The thing was, Continue reading
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White dog privilege
“You know,” said Dog, “you folks who live in the forest have a pretty nice setup. It must be really relaxing.” “How do you mean?” asked Hare. “I thought you and Ferret were the ones who had all the best of everything.” “Oh, sure, I’m not saying there aren’t perks,” said Dog, “but they come Continue reading
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Panglossian mithridate
In the last century BCE there was a small kingdom on the southern edge of the Black Sea, called “Pontus.” They fought several wars with Rome, but in later centuries the kingdom was chiefly remembered for Mithridates IV, the king of Pontus. Courtly life in Pontus being what it was (not very nice), Mithridates was Continue reading
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January 28
It’s Jackson Pollock’s birthday today. His paintings from his “drip period” are riots of disorganized organization. Small areas hang together, but seem completely unrelated to other sections. But then you see grand, galactic designs in there somewhere…somehow…tying things together. Connections appear and vanish, coincidences arise, and then as you move a few steps to the Continue reading
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Pertinent qualms
When something is “pertinent,” it’s relevant. The heat-regulating system in your oven, for example, is pertinent to how well your cake comes out when you’re baking. The word is from the late 1300s (the Middle English era), and made its way to English via French. Its ultimate root is Latin: “pertinare,” which means the same Continue reading
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Fungible Manatee
One evening, Hortense and Masie the cows were not surprised at all to find their friend Manatee relaxing in the creek that ran through the farm. “Hi Manatee,” said Masie, “I didn’t know you were visiting these parts.” “Oh yesss,” said Manatee slowly, “felt it wass timmmmme for a bit of a vacationnnn, you knowwww. Continue reading
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American Dreamscape
The American dream scape. A strange topology beneath the moon that our oddly faceless icons walked on, then abandoned, an issue suddenly as dead as the dust under their nasa boots. We Americans inhabit stories and myths, not reality. We’re fictional characters who believe ourselves to be real, but disbelieve the real world. We’re wraiths Continue reading
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Scratch that; start over. From scratch.
For your reading pleasure (or at least to occupy some time you could be spending more profitably elsewhere), here is a word of the day episode made from scratch. “Made from scratch” means “not made from a prepackaged mix.” But where does that meaning of “scratch” come from? It’s certainly not from the “scratch” that Continue reading
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The Case of the Ferreting Ferret
Hare was sitting in Raccoon’s parlor. “Somebody’s trying to ferret out what happened at the party in the barn,” he said. “Who?” asked Raccoon carelessly. “Ferret,” said Hare. “I heard you the first time,” said Raccoon, “I meant who’s doing the ferreting.” “Ferret,” said Hare again. “You can’t miss him. He looks like a smaller Continue reading
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Cockles
“Sweet Molly Malone” is an Irish song first published in 1876 (in Boston, not Ireland) about a young woman who was a fishmonger in Dublin. She might have been a real person, although nobody really knows. But what she sold was real: “cockles and mussels, alive, alive-o,” as the song goes. Cockles are shellfish, like Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my other blog, Techlimitics, where I’m grappling with the nature of simplicity.
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