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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
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Piketty dispels more BS
The very wealthy don’t, as a rule, pay taxes. If they do, it’s at a rate far lower than the rest of us. And whenever the question of taxing the very wealthy comes up, they:1. Claim it can’t be done2. Spend tons of money influencing the political process so it isn’t done.3. Argue that taxing… Continue reading
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Arthur Miller
Two dramas, both from the 20th Century, have entered the American zeitgeist so much that their plots and characters are familiar to people who have never seen or read the plays. I’m talking about The Crucible, a 1953 play ostensibly about the Salem Witch Trials and allegorically about the McCarthyism era in the US. And… Continue reading
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One more time
Again is a word that comes up…well, again and again in conversation. It’s been around for a very long time; at least since Old English. But its meaning contains a surprising little twist. What you probably think of when you use “again” is repetition; you did something once, and if you do the same thing… Continue reading
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Proper Supervision
My humans aren’t allowed to go walking unleashedand you know that it’s for their own good.If left on their own, they might wander awayand go farther than really they should. The poor dears don’t knowAll the dangers out thereThere are squirrels and rabbits and birdsAnd there might be much worseThan those things that I saidOr… Continue reading
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October 17
October 17 has at times been a bad day to be in London. In 1091, of all things, a tornado touched down. The city was a great deal less impressive in 1091 than it is now, but it did have a London Bridge — which the tornado demolished. It also destroyed the St. Mary-le-Bow church… Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer (among other things) located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. No surprise, she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my newsletter, Artisanal Scribbles, where I’m grappling with writing, authentic human authorship, integrity, and the craft of beauty in the AI age. You can also find some of my old software projects at GitHub. Nothing very impressive. I mostly wrote tiny utilities in Python and shell scripts. I’m mostly retired from coding nowadays.
I find myself suddenly de-corporatized (their choice, not mine). To help keep the lights on, buy me a coffee!
Recent Posts
- The Cycles within the Arc
- I’d rather have a taco
- 20-something Hubris
- You can’t be a leader without followers
- Candy Trees and Handkerchiefs
Categories
Artificial Intelligence
Chocolatiana
Essays
History, sort of
Immorality
Incompetence
Quotations
Resistance
Stories
Tales from the Forest
Technicalities
Tragedy
Unanticipated Consequences
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Contact
peterharbeson@me.com