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October 22
We only have one day before the anniversary of the Great Disappointment. Although to everyone except the one group that at least claimed to be disappointed, the rest of the population generally continues to be not disappointed at all over how things turned out. It all goes back to October 22, 1844, in Low Hampton, Continue reading
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October 21
In the early days of exploring and settling North America, several European nations claimed territories or colonies or areas as “property” of a sort. The territories were generally consolidated into independent countries: Canada, the US, and Mexico. But France still has a North American territory. Not everyone knows about the Overseas Collectivity of Saint Pierre Continue reading
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A good listener. When I want.
On my walks I meet my palsand usually we say “hi.”A sniff or two to seal the dealand then it’s just “goodbye.” But sometimes (not with everyone)We both just want to play.And so we do, and humans?We don’t care what they say. -Chocolate Continue reading
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Grid your lions
Back in the British Isles of more than a thousand years ago, sloping off in a group to pummel the crew from the next town or county was common enough that everybody knew the first steps were to “kilt” your skirt or robe so your legs would be free (possibly to run the other way Continue reading
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October 20
Depending on how you arrange the digits of a date, today is either 20-10-2024 or 10-20-2024. Statistically speaking, it’s 10-20-2024 for about 88.5% and 10-20-2024 for the 11.5% of the world that puts the month in the first position. In both positions, though, October 20 sometimes represents World Statistics Day in about 49.5% of the Continue reading
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Just flighty, that’s all
The word “flibbertigibbet” is a cute label for somebody who tends to fly foolishly from one thing to another, or to chatter on nonsensically. It sort of seems like a frivolous word, and it even sounds like something that might have been coined in the late 1800s or so, doesn’t it? Surprisingly enough (that means Continue reading
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October 19
Vivian Hubert Howard Green was Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford. Quite a proper gentleman, he lectured on ecclesiastical history at St. Augustine’s College in Canterbury before his position at Lincoln College. At St. Augustine’s he was asked if he would consider sitting for the ordination exams. He declined, explaining that as the ecclesiastical lecturer he Continue reading
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Isabel Briggs-Meyers
Let’s say that you’re alive in the US in about 1942 and you read a magazine article about how some people seem to “fit” particular jobs better than others. You’re thinking about your country is preparing to send troops to war in various places in the world, and you have the idea that if only Continue reading
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Tautochrone
Imagine you want to build a clock, but annoyingly enough, you find yourself stuck several centuries in the past, and you don’t really know how to start. The first thing you need is something that “ticks” in a reliably steady cadence. Enter the pendulum. Pendulums swing back and forth pretty steadily. Pendulums started being used Continue reading
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October 18
The small groups of people who see themselves as in charge of larger groups of people — bosses of workers, say — generally don’t like the idea of the people who are supposed to be “under their control” getting more ability to control things for themselves. One way workers can achieve more agency is through 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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Contact
peterharbeson@me.com