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(Deipno)Sophistry
In ancient Greece, a “sophist” was a teacher for hire. The word’s literal meaning is “I am wise”, but its usage went beyond that. The reason the term is part of modern English goes back to Socrates and Plato, who didn’t think much of the sophists. The sophists were well educated, but instead of turning… Continue reading
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Born Today: Satoshi Tajiri
I had hoped to get one of the creations of today’s birthday celebrant to narrate this piece, but unfortunately, even after running it through Google Translate, all I got was “Pika! Pika! Pika!” (and so forth). So I’ll have to do it myself. Today is the 58th birthday of the creator of Pokémon: Satoshi Tajiri. … Continue reading
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August 28
Humans have existed for tens of thousands of years, and have been able to count, at least to some extent, for (probably) most of that time. So with all that experience, particularly once writing was invented in various places and experiences could be widely shared, it’s natural to expect that people would gradually converge on… Continue reading
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Badgering
Hare was less than pleased to see Badger on his doorstep. Badger lived alone on the outskirts of the forest and only visited occasionally. Nearly everyone in the forest agreed that Badger really wasn’t very nice, and they were glad he preferred his own company. “Hello, Badger,” sighed Hare. “What brings you to the forest?”… Continue reading
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Pawn
Word of the day: pawn As his hogs were off in the woods munching on pawn, Farmer Smith decided he was tired of just being used as a pawn by the moneylenders in town, so he made sure his prize pawn with its lovely feathers was safely penned up, then walked into town. He visited… Continue reading
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Time
It’s time. No, it’s not time, it’s “time.” What I mean to say is that “time” is today’s word. “Time” comes from Old English, derived from the Germanic root word “timon” (to stretch or extend). The original meaning of “time” in English was what we today mean by “a long time.” It was such a… Continue reading
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Man Ray
If you peruse the art of Man Ray, who was born August 27, 1890, you’ll see things like sewing machines, flat irons, needles, pins, thread, and other thing having to do with sewing and tailoring. Man Ray was painter, photographer, collagist, and worked in some harder-to-define media as well. He worked in Paris, for the… Continue reading
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Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier
It’s well known nowadays that combustion — fire, for one — is a process requiring oxygen. It doesn’t need any phlogiston to work, although for a century before the 1770s, scientists thought “phlogiston” was some sort of substance, and if it was included in another substance (like wood), that’s what enabled burning. It’s thanks to… Continue reading
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August 27
It’s August 27, the anniversary of the first successful oil well (at least in the US), in Titusville, Pennsylvania. People knew about oil in the 1850s, of course. In some parts of the world you could get the stuff out of freestanding pools (like tar pits), and it had been used for thousands of years… Continue reading
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August 26
Today is the anniversary of the adoption of the nineteenth amendment to the US Constitution. It’s usually described as “granting women the right to vote,” but the language itself is slightly different; it prohibits federal and state governments from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex. The US Constitution is actually a… 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
- C’mon give it up, sluggish human
- The True Chew
- The Cycles within the Arc
- I’d rather have a taco
- 20-something Hubris
Categories
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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