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Stinky is stinky
Not too long after Izaak Walton wrote a heartfelt guide to fishing in The Compleat Angler in 1653, George Gascoigne penned The Noble Arte of Venerie or Hunting in 1575. Both books were what today we might call how-to guides. Among the handy pointers Gascoigne dispensed was this: “There is difference betweene the fewmet of… Continue reading
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Hedgehog and the invasion
Hedgehog was worried. “I’m worried,” he said to Squirrel. “What is it this time?” asked Squirrel, who sometimes found Hedgehog’s constant worrying a bit tedious. “I’m worried about the invasion.” “What did you say?” asked Squirrel, astonished. “The invasion. I think it’s going to happen today, and I’m worried. Sure, I’m small; I can probably… Continue reading
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C’mon, man!
My hurry up and go-nessIs annoyed by human slowness They simply lack velocity!This earns my animosity. -Chocolate Continue reading
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Abacot or not?
People who compile reference books like dictionaries have to be on the lookout, not just for mountweazels inserted into other references as copyright bait, but also for simple mistakes. After all, if you’re going to write your own dictionary, some of the best places to start are other dictionaries. But what if one of them… Continue reading
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October 6
Although it might seem like it’s been around forever, the Instagram app was released exactly fourteen years ago today. It was available only for iPhones at first. An Android app came along two years later, along with a desktop version that works in a web browser. It appeared on Amazon Fire devices two years after… Continue reading
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A good egg, that chap
An occasional Halloween prank in the US is “egging” where kids throw eggs at a house or a car. Their friends, you might imagine, are busy “egging them on.” But egging someone on, even when you’re egging them on about egging, has nothing to do with eggs. Well, I mean, in that particular case I… Continue reading
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October 5
The most important thing about October 5 is that it’s World Teacher’s Day. It was first declared in 1994 by UNESCO (that’s the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund — the E used to stand for “Emergency,” but now it doesn’t) and the ILO (that’s the International Labor Organization,… Continue reading
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Johanna Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh was not born today, but this story is very much about him as well as Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, who was born October 4, 1862. She was born in Amsterdam, and by the time she was 22 was teaching English at a boarding school. Around that time she was introduced to Theo van… Continue reading
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October 4
In these upsetting and degrading times, many people around the world think about escaping the ills of their own countries and emigrating to another. Even here in the US, people are thinking about moving to, in large part, Canada. Even though at the moment US citizens may not be all that welcome in Canada. But… 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