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Abigails and Andrews
If you know someone named Abigail or Andrew, you might want to think twice about whether to share this with them. Those names, you see, have in the past been used to mean different things. Starting in the 1600s – or possibly earlier – an “abigail” was a maidservant. Nobody is quite sure how this… Continue reading
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John Cummings and Christopher Ward
John Cummings and Christopher Ward share a birthday: October 8. They were both born in New York CIty; Cummings in 1948 and Ward in 1965. And they have something else in common: their name. That’s because John Cummings and Christopher Ward are better known as Johnny and C.J. Ramone, of the punk band the Ramones. … Continue reading
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Nicolaes Tulp
On October 9, 1593, Claes Pieterszoon was born in Amsterdam. He came from a prosperous family, and grew up to become a doctor. He built himself a house in 1616, and named it De Tulp, after tulips. He evidently liked tulips quite a lot, because the next year he also changed his own name to… Continue reading
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October 9
October 9, 1701, the Collegiate School was chartered in the colony of Connecticut. The thinking was that Harvard College, which had been around for over 60 years by that time, was getting much too liberal and a new school was needed that would “maintain the Puritan religious orthodoxy.” The school didn’t have a permanent location,… Continue reading
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Don’t be lazy
I’m a young dog at the start of the daybut the things I have learned are not new.Like “humans can sleep altogether too lateand neglect all the stuff they should do.” They can sleep pretty hardbut a lick in their earwill wake them right up;Yes, it works! Never fear! Then they’re handy with doorsand to… Continue reading
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Okay, I’ll be social
I never used to like to meetanother dog out on the streetThe reason why I can’t suppose;Now I greet them, nose to nose. -Chocolate Continue reading
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October 8
Ken Warby was born in 1939 — not on October 8; he’s not appearing here because of his birthday. It’s because Warby’s boyhood hero was Donald Campbell. To Donald Campbell, the most important thing was speed records — he set speed records (eight of them) for top speeds in cars and boats. He was following… Continue reading
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Don’t get me wet
Rain is a pain;I do not enjoy damp.Drips on my coatget no OK stamp If it’s raining don’t botherwe don’t need to talk;I’ll just go right on napping;Forget the darn walk. -Chocolate Continue reading
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Don’t be shy
Literature set in England in the 1700s and 1800s is a good place to find exclamations like “You hare-hearted, milk-livered poltroon!” (1769). It was both a generalized insult and a specific reference to being cowardly. It’s such an apt thing to shout at someone that you still find it in modern works like Mutiny on the… Continue reading
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October 7
Railroads are older than you think. That’s because when we think of railroads, we naturally envision a locomotive (diesel, electric, or steam powered) and railcars, all rolling on steel tracks. But what are the really essential parts of the system? Tracks, certainly, along with some kind of containers being conveyed along them in some way. … 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
Privacy policy
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Contact
peterharbeson@me.com