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The 10-Core Plan
We’ve got a couple of months before Things Change Bigly, and one of the things that’s likely to happen (based on statements made more than once) is that prices of a lot of things are going to go up — sometimes way up. The specific things I’m thinking about right how are personal computers, and Continue reading
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November 10
One of the enduring questions of November 10 is Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? Today is the anniversary of the show. In 1969 it was a big departure from the children’s TV shows of the time, but by now it’s the gold standard, having won 189 Emmy Awards. One of Continue reading
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Aaahhhhh
Full-body massagemakes me give a big wag.I sprawl on my carpet(a thick comfy shag)and my staff of pet humanswith their pampering whirlmeans I feel like thehappiest pup in the world. -Chocolate Continue reading
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Hey you dope, it’s lunchtime
It’s common enough, particularly in New England, to eat some chowder — especially clam chowder. But why is it clam “chowder” instead of, for example, clam “soup” or clam “stew”? And if you do try some chowder and it isn’t any good, are you likely to chowter about it? “Chowder” is just a variety of Continue reading
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The greedy little hustlers never left
Donald Trump is not the first crooked salesman to seek and attain the US presidency; not by a long shot. The first one I had any experience with was Richard Nixon, who might even have been worse. One of the best writers of that era was Hunter S. Thompson. In 1972, the Democratic candidate opposing Continue reading
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November 9
November 9, 1801 was an important day in the history of both dairy products and fictional corporate representatives. Gail Borden II was born. He was named after his father, but somewhat unusual names seemed to run in the family; his mother’s given name was Philadelphia. The family moved to Kentucky when young Gail was about Continue reading
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Socially awkward
There are lots of people today who proudly (or at least happily) describe themselves as nerds, geeks, or both. It’s quite a turnaround, because both words used to have somewhat negative connotations. They’ve also tended to converge in meaning, so that it’s not really clear what the difference is, if any (and if you’re about Continue reading
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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
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