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Tergiversation
“He knew … that flight was impossible; that he was tied fast under the shadow of the axe; and that in spite of his utmost tergiversation and treachery in furtherance of the reigning terror, a word might bring it down upon him.” That’s from A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, and it’s a rare… Continue reading
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John Humphrey Noyes
In the mid-19th Century there was a social movement, mostly in the US, based on the idea that it was possible to create an ideal, perfect community. Quite a few such communities were founded and many continued for years. Their plan was to demonstrate that if a small community could thrive by following their ideas… Continue reading
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September 3
Welcome to September 3, National Welsh Rarebit Day! It was originally called “Welsh rabbit”, even though it doesn’t contain any rabbit, and the ingredients probably wouldn’t even appeal to rabbits. It’s a pretty simple dish; basically just cheese on toast. The name has morphed into “rarebit” instead of “rabbit” because too many people were confused.… Continue reading
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Don’t you dare try to escape!
We hate to miss outon anything fun,so we bark and wagand jump and run. If you’re going outsidewe’re coming tooJust to keepour eyes on you. If you find a ball,You just might throw itAnd we will chase it;Don’t you know it. And there might be a squirrelor rabbit out there;That’s our job‘cause you don’t care.… Continue reading
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Things Humans Don’t Understand
You must go OUT when you are IN,and IN when you are OUT.For a super secret reason,you sometimes have to shout. The things you like to eat the most —your always-go-to faves?One day you change your mind and thenthat stuff’s not what you crave. I could go on and on and on;there’s ever so much… Continue reading
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Wag Tails’ Burden
Humans need some supervision(shouldn’t make their own decisions).Sometimes I must pause my chewingjust to check on what they’re doing Busy busy day and night;I have to check to see they’re right.If left alone they waste their time,ignoring things that should be prime. They usually do the things they oughtta,but forget, and then I gottagive a… Continue reading
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September 2
The day after September 2, 1752 — it was a Wednesday — was September 14. At least it was in Great Britain and all the British colonies. That was the day of the big switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. The two calendars were off by 11 days at the time (the amount… Continue reading
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All in a day’s work
Hayley and Iplay wrestle and chaseAnd we sniff aroundeach little bit of our place. It also takes someof our time just to manageOur family humans —We give them advantage of our better senses(they haven’t a clue);Without us those guyswouldn’t know what to do. -Chocolate Continue reading
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September 1
In New Zealand, September 1 is Random Acts of Kindness day. Official suggestions about what you might do (randomly of course) includes washing someone else’s car or paying for the person behind you in a drive-through line. Out of 13 ideas for suggested activities, six of them have to do with transportation (they would be… Continue reading
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A Short Essay on the Official Procedure for Breaking-in New Tennis Balls
I like to play with tennis balls; got new ones. They’re okay, but I have to fix ‘em up a bit before they’re fit for play. They need the outsides ripped and torn. And next get rolled around. Not in grass, but in some dirty, muddy patch of ground. Then I leave them in the… 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 other blog, Techlimitics, where I’m grappling with the nature of simplicity. You can also find some of my minor software projects at GitHub. Nothing very impressive. I mostly write tiny utilities in Python.
I find myself suddenly de-corporatized (their choice, not mine). To help keep the lights on, buy me a coffee!
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Contact
peterharbeson@me.com