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You’re annoying me
My humans make up silly storiesjust to help them fret and worry;They don’t listen when I say“Come on outside, relax and play.”It’s like they’d rather moan and talkinstead of going for a walk —I have to growl before I’m doneto make those dodos have some fun. -Chocolate Continue reading
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Free, eh?
Most glass beverage bottles nowadays are molded with screw threads so you can twist the metal cap off with your fingers. But some — particularly beer bottles — still come with metal caps crimped onto the top. Those caps have a name: they’re “crown corks.” They were invented in 1892 in Baltimore, and not only Continue reading
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November 19
It’s entirely appropriate that in a year that might deserve to be flushed down the drain, November 19 is World Toilet Day. It’s a serious holiday, though, started by the UN to get people to do something about sanitation worldwide. Although even the UN has a slight bit of trouble keeping a straight face; when Continue reading
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November 18
Today is Mickey Mouse’s birthday! At least that’s what the Disney company says. There’s plenty of room to argue about it. What happened on November 18, 1928 was that Steamboat Willie was released, starring Mickey and Minnie. It was a big hit, but it was really Mickey’s third film. Mickey’s first film was called Plane Continue reading
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Dog’s plan
“You want to do what, exactly?” asked Hare. “I want to leave this on the ground — well, on the snow — in a place in the forest where Magpie will probably find it, but nobody else probably will,” said Dog. “Why don’t you just give it to Magpie yourself?” asked Hare. “Because it’s a Continue reading
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Oh fiddle-faddle
Flimflam is misleading nonsense. In other words it’s humbug, bunkum, claptrap, poppycock, balderdash, bilge, hooey, malarkey, blatherskite, twaddle, rigamarole. (Hey, I did say “other words.”) But “flimflam” is the word of the day, so we’ll skip the tommyrot and get right to it. It’s an older word than you might guess, dating back to the Continue reading
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Nicolas Appert
Anybody can do canning at home — that is, preserving food in sealed containers, usually glass jars. Canning is also sometimes called “appertization,” which is a reference to Nicolas Appert. Appert was born November 17, 1749 in France, and while he (probably) didn’t invent canning, he was the first to really systematize it. Appert was Continue reading
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November 17
November 17 is a bit of an odd day in the history of, well, history. It’s not that nothing ever happened — it’s more like a number of things that did happen might was well not have. Maybe an example is in order. In 1810, the Napoleonic Wars were still in progress in Europe, and Continue reading
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Where’s my racing form?
When something is “phony” (or, in Commonwealth countries, “phoney”), it’s fake, or if a person, insincere. J.D. Salinger captured it precisely in Catcher in the Rye: “they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life.” There’s a myth that “phony”, probably because it sounds like “phone” as Continue reading
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Theater of the Absurd
Just like the Republican presidential campaign, apparently everything is TV now: “…a 27-year-old social media huckster, beat a 58-year-old man with a long history of health problems, both physically and mentally, in a boxing ring late on Friday night.“ Meanwhile, Dave Winer observed a campaigning shift by the Repubs, who: “…didn’t worry what Jake Tapper 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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peterharbeson@me.com