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August 26
Today is the anniversary of the adoption of the nineteenth amendment to the US Constitution. It’s usually described as “granting women the right to vote,” but the language itself is slightly different; it prohibits federal and state governments from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex. The US Constitution is actually a Continue reading
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Comedian
There was stuff in my yardand I rolled in it good.A sniffer joke good for a laugh. But while I was yukkingit up with my palsI got captured and put in a bath. Everybody watch out because humans are denseYou can’t count on them havinga humorous sense! -Chocolate Continue reading
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Product Review
Ever since I bought my humansI’m afraid that I’ve been gypped;their sniffers are defective and they cannot hear at all. They’re pretty good at tossingand their thumbs are pretty good,but their thinkers aren’t so thinkyand I worry that they’ll fall. But I guess I’d better keep ‘em‘cause you just can’t trade ‘em in,I’m pretty sure they Continue reading
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Stupid Squirrels
Squirrels annoy us,My sister and me. They trespass our yardand they play in our tree. But pretty soon squirrelswill pay for their crimes, ‘cause we’re practicing.Watch; we will learn how to climb. -Chocolate Continue reading
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Cute, up to a point
Humans are cutewhen they bow to our wishes, opening doorsand filling our dishes. But whenever they step beyondtreats, toys and food,Those tall dopes can put me right into a mood. I try to correct them,And lecture them, too,but they’re dense;my instructions don’t always get through. They yell No! and Stop!and among their bad habitsIs thinking they’ll stop Continue reading
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Gobsmacked
It’s flabbergasting how you can be metagrobolized by “flummox,” flummoxed by “metagrobolize,” and you can be both flummoxed and metagrobolized by “flabbergast.” “Flabbergast” first appeared in the 1700s. Today it means astonished or very, very surprised, but back when it was a new word (probably created by combining“flap” and “aghast”), it also meant terrified. The Continue reading
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The Sayings of Chocolate
Chocolate is a young dog who always has plenty to say. After more than a year of intense study, I’ve learned how to translate much of what she passes along. To my surprise, she often speaks in rhyme, and usually has some trenchant observation to impart. On breakfast and playing chase in the back yard Continue reading
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August 25
It was August 25, 1835, that the New York Sun newspaper published one of the greatest stories ever — certainly their biggest scoop in history. The greatest astronomer of the time was Sir William Herschel, and he had made some astonishing observations from his immense telescope of an entirely new principle, built in South Africa. Continue reading
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Weather or not
In 1812, a bit later in the year than it is now, there was a warm spell in Boston. In those days it was called Indian Summer, and a clergyman in the city explained the term this way (he may have been making it up): “This charming season is called the Indian Summer, a name Continue reading
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August 24
It’s August twenty-fourth, a date that will live in…paperwork. It was the date in 1215 that the Pope declared the English Magna Carta invalid. The Pope got involved because, well, in those days the Pope got involved in everything. The Great Charter of Freedoms had been written by one of his crew, the Archbishop of 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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peterharbeson@me.com