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Agisters and Verderers
In Hampshire, England, there’s a park called the New Forest that’s not very new at all. It goes back to William the Conqueror (who was in charge 1066-1087), and was a “royal forest.” In the Domesday Book in 1086, it was called “Nova Foresta.” It was used for royal hunts — of deer, for example… Continue reading
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Born today: George R. R. Martin
Watch your back. Watch the skies. Watch out for…well, just about everybody. That seems to be the main lesson from A Song of Ice and Fire. That’s the book series that inspired the Game of Thrones series, and it was written by George R. R. Martin, whose 75th birthday is today. Martin, whose “Rs” stand… Continue reading
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September 20
Some things seem important at the time, and they might even be remembered, but long-term their effects don’t seem particularly significant. This is the day, for example, that Agnes of Poitou met with Andrew I of Hungary in 1058 (!) to negotiate the border of Burgenland. Agnes was a queen in something vaguely resembling Germany,… Continue reading
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Pigs!
From Piglet to Wilbur to Babe to Animal Farm, pigs play a certain minor (or possibly mid-range) role as characters in English writing. Pigs have been domesticated for many centuries, and they’ve entered the language as well. The thing is, most pig-related words and idioms don’t seem particularly kind to the pigs. The word “hogwash,”… Continue reading
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Wile (not E. Coyote)
When you’re musing, daydreaming, or generally relaxing in an aimless sort of way, you might say that you’re “whiling away the time”. But you might instead say — and back in the day you might have been more likely to say — you’re “WILING away the time.” “While” began to be used as a verb… Continue reading
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Born today: William Sellers
We don’t usually notice the fairly mundane objects around us that are absolutely essential — to the point that hardly anything would function without them — but seem to be just “available” and ubiquitous. Like nuts and bolts. They’re not branded (okay, some are), and although there are some variations, it’s very easy to find… Continue reading
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September 19
Ahoy me hearties, ’tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Arrr! Her keel was laid down in the year 1995, it was, when crewmates Cap’n Slappy ’n Ol’ Chumbucket were granted the boon of an idea by ol’ Davy Jones himself. T’was June the 6th when they had the idea, but they fixed the day… Continue reading
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Ooglification
About 35 years ago there was a professor of linguistics at Drew University: Roger Wescott, who happened upon the slang word “oogly” (or at least said he did; not a whole lot of other people seem to have heard of it). “Oogly,” Wescott explained, was a form of “ugly,” and it was used to mean… Continue reading
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September 18
Corn is quite the important grain. It’s “maize,” really, and it came from southern Mexico, where it was cultivated over 10,000 years ago. Even the word “maize” comes from what the indigenous Taino called it: “mahiz.” It’s called “corn” in English because the word already existed, meaning a small, hard particle like a grain of… Continue reading
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Hare’s Spoiled Trick
Beaver was sitting in his library reading a story when there was a knock on his door. It was Hare. “Oh, hello Hare,” said Beaver, “I was just…” “You were reading a story in your library,” said Hare. “I know.” “You do?” “Yes, and then there was a knock on your door and you got… Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer (among other things) located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. No surprise, she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my newsletter, Artisanal Scribbles, where I’m grappling with writing, authentic human authorship, integrity, and the craft of beauty in the AI age. You can also find some of my old software projects at GitHub. Nothing very impressive. I mostly wrote tiny utilities in Python and shell scripts. I’m mostly retired from coding nowadays.
I find myself suddenly de-corporatized (their choice, not mine). To help keep the lights on, buy me a coffee!
Recent Posts
- How much is that doggie in the window?
- Hang on, I’m busy
- Sometimes it’s not an improvement
- Do not call your friend…
- Once more, into the breach
Categories
Artificial Intelligence
Chocolatiana
Essays
History, sort of
Immorality
Incompetence
Quotations
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Tales from the Forest
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Tragedy
Unanticipated Consequences
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Contact
peterharbeson@me.com