If there are two or more ways of doing things and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it. Edward A. Murphy, Jr. Almost three decades ago, a 2′ X 3′ poster hung on my cubicle wall in Indianapolis. It displayed a list of sayings attributed to Murphy. That […]
Today’s pasty is the working man’s version, a perfect meal in the hand, easily transportable… ~Janet Clarkson Based on recent research, it isn’t just today’s pasty that is a perfect portable meal. These little hot pockets have been around since the 13th century, according to an organization that ought to know–Proper Cornish, the Pasty Makers.
The Pasty – from Cornwall to the U.P. Read More »
Fire marks were an expression of the insurance industry’s history, tradition and longevity – a visual representation of an industry primarily documented through contracts and paperwork. ~ Dick Doyle, Fire Mark Historian It was surprisingly difficult to locate a quote about fire marks. Should I have been surprised? No. I should have known my search would
Proof of Purchase – Fire Marks Read More »
You don’t come at mama with a wooden spoon when she’s holding a cast iron skillet. ~Unknown Well, that seems intuitively obvious. However, I did not know that this ubiquitous cookware (well, ubiquitous in southern kitchens) evolved from actual weapons. I know. I know. Maybe I should have made that connection. Here’s more detail for
Cast Iron – From the Battlefield to the Cooktop Read More »
Epidemiologists routinely turn to models to predict the progression of an infectious disease. Fighting public suspicion of these models is as old as modern epidemiology, which traces its origins back to John Snow’s famous cholera maps in 1854. ~Zeynep Tufekci Just when I think I have a satisfactory vocabulary, a new word inserts itself. Epidemiologists
Cholera and Typhoid – 19th Century Killers Read More »
Did you know that when Dave Navarro first met Carmen Electra, rumor has it that he was so taken with her beautiful eyes that he went out and bought over a hundred pairs of sunglasses for her to wear to cover her eyes whenever she left her house so no one would fall in love
Sunglasses – Shady Business Read More »
Rice is great if you’re really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something. Mitch Helberg I personally think rice is always great, and this quote makes me want to see how many grains I can get on my next forkful. Not everyone agrees, and there are naysayers who wish we would change our
Rice & Its Undeserved Bad Rap Read More »
When we developed written language, we significantly increased our functional memory and our ability to share insights and knowledge across time and space. The same thing happened with the invention of the printing press, the telegraph, and the radio. ~ Jamais Cascio One day, I’ll research the claim about functional memory, but not today. For
The Printing Press – History & Impact Read More »
You look like the Fourth of July! Makes me want a hot dog real bad! ~Jennifer Coolidge, as Paulette in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blue Americans of the U.S. variety have celebrated Independence Day with hot dogs since for over 50 years *, and we have two parties to thank for that. The
From garden to jar, canning is a celebration of nature’s gifts. ~ Unknown Back in the 70s, I would do a little canning every summer, but it was almost always tomatoes, and the process was a choice, not a necessity. The situation was entirely different for my grandmothers, who were born more than seventy years
A Fading Practice – Home Canning Read More »
Build good fences, make good friends, and keep your laundry indoors. ~ A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten All good advice, though some might argue with the laundry bit. In any case, this post primarily focuses on fences, which humans have been building for much longer than you might think, and for reasons that transcend cultural
Fences – A Bit of Etymology, A Modicum History Read More »
The first scone is what I like to call the practice scone. It not until the third -nay fourth- that you develop any kind of scone-eating expertise. ~ Jennifer Lynn Barnes I have enjoyed scones many times, and while I don’t think I could consume four at one sitting, I wish I could. American Biscuits are
Scones – Better Than Sliced Bread Read More »
In the argot of the cycle world, the Harley is a “hog,” and the outlaw bike is a “chopped hog.” ~Hunter S. Thompson I always thought that Harleys were called “hogs” because compared to other motorcycles, they used a lot of gas. While I’ve seen alternate stories, that isn’t one of them. Here are two
The Origin and Naming of Hogs – Harley Davidson Read More »
The family farm is the foundation for who we are as a Commonwealth. And for over a century, the family farm in Kentucky has centered around one crop: tobacco. ~Jim Bunning Even if the biggest garden you ever tended was the size of a postage stamp and you only grew tomatoes, you know how much labor
Tobacco & a Different Kind of War Read More »
I was never very picky about accepting only talented or extra-talented people. That was never my priority. It was always to discover if I saw a possibility for improvement. Those are the cases that make you feel that what you are doing is rewarding, when you see the progress the student is making because of
The History & Beauty of Strings Read More »
Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go. ~ Anthony Bourdain We derive much of who we are from our environment, and what we eat is as much a part of that
Food and Drink in my Sweet Tennessee Read More »
Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. ~ G.K. Chesterton Well, the updated fairy tales read the way Chesterton described them, but they didn’t all start that way. There’s a dark side, or there was as the stories were
Fairy Tales, modified for the faint of heart Read More »
How would your life be different if …you walked away from gossip and verbal defamation? Let today be the day … you speak only the good you know of other people and encourage others to do the same. ~Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth and Being Free For as long as I can remember, gossiping has
Gossip? You talk like that’s a bad thing. Read More »
To fall down is to face the weakness of my humanity, test the mettle of my character, and push the limits of my strength. Therefore, falling down will tell me who I am far more clearly than most things I might learn when I’m standing up. ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough In a recent conversation I
How would I fare in a test of mettle? Read More »
This house has enough nooks and crannies for an English muffin. ~Kathy Bryson Yes, I’m well aware I write about food quite often. There’s the one on coffee and the one on grits, and on ice cream. I could go on, but this blog is all about thought, and I do think about food with
A rose by any other name: English muffins? Really? Read More »
On this Independence Day, let us be grateful that we have such words and such examples to follow… that others were willing to sacrifice so much to create a land in which liberty and law can be protected. Let us not destroy our history. Let us learn from it by preserving and celebrating what was
JULY 4. 247 YEARS OF LIGHTING UP THE NIGHT SKY Read More »