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John B. Goodenough
July 25 If you have an electric or hybrid car, use a smartphone, take your laptop to a cafe to work, or just generally enjoy not worrying that much about dying batteries any more, you have John Goodenough to think. He was born July 25, 1922, and he invented the lithium-ion battery that’s used in… Continue reading
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Chock-Full
When you’re reading a series of texts chock-full of obscure words and other barely interesting trivia (don’t look at me; I don’t know where you’d find anything like that), you might reasonably ask yourself: “chock-full? What’s a chock, and how can it be full?” The phrase “chock-full” has been around for a very long time.… Continue reading
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Autological
“Autology” is a word that was fairly rare even when it was in use back in the 1600s. It meant self-knowledge, or the study of oneself. Some years later there was also the form “autological” for referring to things having to do with autology. Since Freud didn’t happen across the word, it probably would have… Continue reading
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Back in the Day: July 25
One of the things you learn in school in the US is that the Revolutionary War took place in North America, mostly involved colonial troops versus the British (or their mercenaries), and ended when George Washington defeated General Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. Not a single one of those things are true. The final battle… Continue reading
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Born Today: July 24
Twenty-five dollars per month. That was all. It wasn’t an inconsequential sum; that provided a measure of reassurance. But now it was 1895, which made him 33 years old, and he was sure his friends would say to him “Bill! Bill Porter! You’re a family man now, and you’ve just moved to Houston. Will $25… Continue reading
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Henry Darger
In an article in The Atlantic, “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid,” Jonathan Haidt mentions James Madison’s recognition that democratic societies can suffer from “the turbulence and weakness of unruly passions.” Haidt points out that to create a “sustainable republic” is to “build in mechanisms to slow things down” and “cool… Continue reading
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Beauty is in the Eye
Beauty in your eye “I would know if I had something in my eye, Magpie,” said Hare. “I didn’t mean that sort of something,” said Magpie, “I mean the kind of thing you have in your eye because you’re the only one who sees it.” “The only time theres a thing that only I can… Continue reading
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Jitney
A “jitney” is the traditional name for what some cities are starting to call, in a typically oafish, tone-deaf, acronymical sort of way, “PTV”s (for “Private Transit Vehicles”). A jitney (we are not calling them PTVs around here) is a van or similar that’s a privately owned shuttle that operates on a fixed route. The… Continue reading
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Software
May, 2022 Sometimes there’s a technology that captures our minds so much that it becomes a metaphor for practically everything. The universe — and the mind — seemed like an infinitely complex clockwork back in the days when the mechanisms inside clocks were new and fascinating. The “clockwork universe” showed up around the 1400s, and… Continue reading
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Repetition
May 2022 It’s a funny thing about repetition — it’s great, but sometimes it can quite suddenly cross a threshold and become “too much.” The pulse of loud music is a good example; I can be enjoying it and then for some reason, I’ve had enough. I seldom see the threshold approaching. Maybe there isn’t… 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
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