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Wake up, there’s beer
The first word in an English dictionary is often “aardvark”. But what about the last one? That depends on the dictionary. In many cases it’s “zymurgy,” which is fermentation, such as in making beer or wine. The American Homebrewers Association, which is “dedicated to empowering home brewers to make the best beer in the world,”… Continue reading
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Karl Ove Knausgård
It takes time to become a writer. Until they manage to begin making money from their work, and often even afterward, writers often take jobs that seem almost random. They probably are random, at least partly. Teaching, selling records and tapes, working as an aide in a hospital, and even doing manual labor on an… Continue reading
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December 6
“I think that I shall never see / A poem as lovely as a tree.” Many, if not most people remember that’s the first couplet of Trees, a poem by Joyce Kilmer. Not quite as many remember that in spite of the name, Joyce Kilmer was male. “Joyce” was actually his middle name. He wrote… Continue reading
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Blankets
My favorite blankets are nice and softand humans like them too.I lie down on blankets;with humans blankets are on top of you. If I’m beneath a blanketI sometimes feel too hotthat seems to be a problembald humans haven’t got. I often hear my humansmake a noise like ‘brrr,’I think it’s ’cause just like their tailsThose… Continue reading
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What now?!?
I must admit I’m at a loss:who still doesn’t know that I’m the boss?This white stuff shouldn’t be allowed;It’s wet and cold and must be plowed. Sky stuff all should learn this knack:Keep out of my yard and off my back!Even worse, on every tripMy two-footed humans seem to slip. Their own fault; they cannot… Continue reading
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Wile E. or While H?
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 could 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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December 5
Today is the anniversary of Flight 19, the five US Air Force bombers that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. They were on a training mission and reported that their compasses had stopped working and they’d gotten lost. Although they knew they were due east of Florida, where they’d taken off, for some reason they didn’t… Continue reading
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Samuel Butler
In these days of readily available AI chatbots, it’s not unusual to find speculation about whether artificial intelligence is going to “take over” the world in some usually unspecified way. This concern is older than you might expect. The Press newspaper in New Zealand published a letter in 1863 captioned Darwin among the Machines. Darwin’s… Continue reading
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I’ll have the model in rose gold, please
People remember how their neighbors act toward them and others. Particularly if you live in a village, you know who’s generous and kind, and you also know who’s a tightwad. In the case of the scrooge, you might also call them a nithing, a shut-purse, a chinch, a hayne, a nigon, or a pinchbeck. Well,… Continue reading
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December 4
As everybody knows, December 4, at least in the US, is National Cookie Day. December, of course, is well known for National Food Days; it all starts on the first, which is Eat a Red Apple Day. The next day takes a left turn away from healthy choices to be National Fritter Day. Then after… 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.
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Now Read This
This list includes only “artisanal” sites, by which I mean they’re all authored by individuals. While there are some worthwhile sites created by organizations, this is the kind I prefer to support.
[citation needed] by Molly White
Bedlam Farm Journal by Jon Katz
Full Moon Fiber Art by Maria Wulf
Daring Fireball by John Gruber
Garbagetown by Catherynne M. Valente