Music and Memories

You find the damnedest things when you open an old photo box. Y'know, like old ticket stubs. From the 90s. Those were some great shows, every single one of them. Let's start with the non-rock shows. Five Guys Named Moe celebrated the music of Louis Jordan, the great jump blues sax player and bandleader. We saw that show at Ford's Theater, home of the most uncomfortable theater seats ever. (If you go to a show... Read more →


Dissociation

As many of you know, I am a huge Outlander fan. I've read all eight books more than once; I've watched most of the entire series more than once. There are three episodes that I have had to make myself watch. I'm sure you can guess which ones, but I'll tell you anyway. To Ransom A Man's Soul, where Jamie Fraser is raped and tortured by Black Jack Randall. Wilmington, where Brianna Randall is raped... Read more →


A Pretty Wedding

Here's my grandmother's marriage certificate. It's not as fancypants as her father's certificate, but Gramma's wedding was 27 years after his, so maybe things were more streamlined in the 20th century. Anyway, the Washington Star published the following description of the wedding. The suburban home of Dr. and Mrs. Charles F. Whitney of Woodside, Md., was the scene of a pretty wedding Wednesday evening, when their daughter, Miss Mabel Whitney, was married to Mr. Jarrett... Read more →


History Dinner

Joe and I have been attending a historical dinner series at a local joint - the Black Powder Tavern. It's been very entertaining! First off, the tavern itself was built in 1746. During the encampment at Valley Forge, George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and General Von Steuben had strategy meetings there. Now we get dinner and a lecture on an American Revolution battle once a month! Here's what I have learned and eaten so... Read more →


Ghosts and Zombies

I've been reading about how social media has given rise to new ways for a person to be a dick; for example, the phenomena known as "ghosting" and "zombie-ing." For you folks unaware of these behaviors, ghosting occurs when a person disappears from another's social media. Maybe you were in the beginning stages of dating, texting up a storm, friends on Facebook, blah blah blah. Suddenly the object of your attention is gone. They don't... Read more →


The Longest Night

It seems wrong that tonight's full moon is called the Cold Moon when it's 59 degrees outside. (It's also called the Long Nights Moon; I wrote about that a long time ago.) It's also the Winter Solstice, when darkness falls at 4:39 in the afternoon and lasts until 7:19 tomorrow morning. A long, long night. So much dark. I have mixed feelings about the night. I'm scared of it, a legacy of another cold Winter... Read more →


Rations

Here's an interesting little piece of history from World War II - a War Ration book. It's only the cover, because Mom used the stamps to buy rationed goods, like sugar, meat, and canned goods. I'm guessing that each family member could get one, because this book is for John Wise, my older brother. (He died before I was born.) What I find fascinating are the instructions on the back, particularly the warning on the... Read more →


The Jet Black Ink Solution

If you've seen a couple of my recent Facebook posts, you know that I went on a quest for a compass -- not the "where's north" type of compass, but the "draw a circle" type of compass. The reason I wanted one is to make drawing concentric circles easier. Compasses are very good for that. You could even say that circle drawing the raison d'etre of the compass. Concentric circles make a very nice framework... Read more →