Category: Art and Culture

Don’t Believe Everything You Hear in the Wilderness

I was driving home through the August heat soup to an ice cold Bombay Sapphire and Stirrings tonic when my Blackberry cut loose with my latest ring tone.  I didn’t answer it, of course, since doing so would turn me into a particular sort of person I despise – that jerk driving down the road… Continue reading Don’t Believe Everything You Hear in the Wilderness

Old Soldiers Never Lie, It Just Sounds That Way

Henry Clay, who died 156 years ago this last June 29, contributed quite a few things to American history.  Some put him in the top ten politicians to ever hold federal office.  The man certainly kept busy, that’s for sure, almost single-handedly starting the War of 1812, acting as the chief architect of the Missouri… Continue reading Old Soldiers Never Lie, It Just Sounds That Way

Greed, Pride, Lust, Envy – No, Wait, That’s Not Right…

I couldn’t help getting a very strange feeling when I arrived last night at my dear sister Rose’s home.  As regular readers of this Web log know, due to the mortgage crisis, Rose’s large and loving Catholic family has been host to her husband’s brother’s large and loving Catholic family for quite a while now,… Continue reading Greed, Pride, Lust, Envy – No, Wait, That’s Not Right…

British Physicist Ponders Scientific Mystery

I’ve always wondered about the English tradition of hyphenated last names.  The whole concept strikes me as a perfect example of vain impracticality.  As if a woman named Chuzzlewit didn’t have enough problems already – could changing her last name to Havisham be all that bad?  Apparently so, and here comes Ms. Chuzzlewit-Havisham, tripping so… Continue reading British Physicist Ponders Scientific Mystery