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November 8
It was a mere 402 years ago today, in 1602, that the Bodleian Library at Oxford University was opened to the public. It wasn’t a step the librarians took lightly. The library had been founded nearly as far in its past as 1602 is in our past, in the 1300s, and for its first three… Continue reading
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Albert Camus
Today is the eleventy-first anniversary of the birth of Albert Camus, who pointed out in a number of ways that whatever you do, whatever you accomplish, whatever you dream of, whether you achieve it or not…nobody cares. Well, some people might care, but the universe we live in doesn’t give a fig. He laid this… Continue reading
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Obscuring obscurity
I found this information in an abditory. If this were written in Latin, that would be abditorium, which is the source of “abditory.” The word has been around since at least 1658, when it was used by somebody known only as J Robinson in a publication called Endoxa: “In the center of the kernel of… Continue reading
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November 7
November seventh turns out to be the anniversary of three of the oldest things around. In 1492, on the outskirts of Ensisheim, France, a meteorite fell — it’s the oldest one with a record of when it arrived. Then in 1665, in London, the London Gazette was first published. It’s the oldest journal in the… Continue reading
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James Naismith
If you’re enjoying the US basketball season, you might want to celebrate the inventor’s birthday today — James Naismith was born November 6, 1861 in the Province of Canada. He moved to Springfield, Massachusetts in the US in about 1890 to study at the YMCA International Training School. From there he became a physical education… Continue reading
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Wowzers
The phrase “it’s a doozy” is an American expression that means something is remarkable and usually excellent. If “His elder daughter arrives in a doozie of a snowstorm,” you know that snowstorm was particularly intense. Popular culture contains a story about the word “doozy.” It’s said to be based on the Duesenberg automobiles of the 1920s. They… Continue reading
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November 6
Today is November 6, and it’s a holiday! But I bet you didn’t know that. You see, unlike other holidays that have primarily caught on because of catchy names like Mother’s Day and Halloween — that is, holidays with competent public relations teams — today is the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the… Continue reading
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The perfect treat
I get lotsof kinds of treatswhen all I say is “please.” One of my all-timefavorites isa lovely piece of cheese. Cheese is just the rightest stuffit’s chewyand has salt. It might just bethat rarest thing:a treat without a fault. -Chocolate Continue reading
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Open Letter
This is a noteto my four-legged pals:When you talk with your humans,beware! Their idea of “right now”is pathetically thinand they only know thingsthat are there. I think it’s becausealthough senses they haveit’s their eyesthey rely on the most. “Out of sight out of mind”is a thing that they say,and that mind, if it’s there,is a… Continue reading
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Poor dears
I feel sorry for humans;they really can’t smellwith their nosesso far from the ground. And that means they neverknow what’s going onor which dogs and catscame around. I could tell them,I guesswhen the most recent squirrelwas trespassing right in my yard, But it’s such a big botherteaching them how to speak.Even listening, for themis quite… 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. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Recent Posts
- Dis- or Ab-?
- Thoughtfulness about fake thought
- Drink plenty of liquids
- “Hawkweed?”
- Walked to school in the snow uphill both ways
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Empty Wheel
Kansas Reflector
Bedlam Farm Journal
Krugman Wonks Out
Daring Fireball
[citation needed]
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