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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
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Was that bali…high?
The incredible two-headed heffalump It’s not unusual for an English word to have quite a few unrelated meanings, or even turn out to be more than one word with the same sound. As you might think, this happens more often with words that have been around for centuries. It’s also more common with simpler one-… Continue reading
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August 31
Since August 31st is National Trail Mix Day, and also National Language Day (in Moldova), we should all practice saying “mix de trasee,” which is “Trail Mix” in Romanian. Why Romanian? Well, Moldova has its own language (Moldovan, obviously), but on a closer look, it turns out that Moldovan and Romanian are identical — the… Continue reading
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Families
Families are funnyAnd mine is — a lot.It’s my sister and meAnd the humans we’ve got. When you see us togetheryour jaw might be dropted(Don’t tell thembut they were adopted.) -Chocolate 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