A most amazing thing took place this afternoon. On my way to get some coffee, I of course wandered into a local used book store. My intention was as usual to find yet another history book or biography. Well, I did both, then took my finds to the counter, where I chatted briefly with the […]
Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Repository for Instruction and Amusement, May 1774
Posted in History on February 7, 2017 | Comments Off on Repository for Instruction and Amusement, May 1774
Duck pond
Posted in History, tagged George Washington, snow on February 7, 2017 | Comments Off on Duck pond
Sunday it snowed the whole night. Yesterday while the snow was still cold and perfectly arranged, I took a short walk, observing the way the flakes clung to every single twig, making the woods look like a row of white flocked trees. I walked to the field by my house and down a small hill […]
An obsolete term
Posted in Hamilton on February 5, 2017 | Comments Off on An obsolete term
January 10, 1772: “Believe me sir I dun as hard as is proper.” This sentence always kind of stood out to me. When read with a modern ear, one hears, “I done as hard as is proper,” and it makes him sound uneducated. But, this is Hamilton, and I don’t think he would have written […]
People Draw Borders
Posted in History on February 2, 2017 | Comments Off on People Draw Borders
We the people have always been more loyal to our states than our nation, let’s be real. I think that’s pretty normal. Who can identify on a personal level with a 3000-mile wide mass of land? Hamilton thought states should be devalued because it would bring greater unity to the country, and that was easy […]
A Short Play
Posted in Hamilton on January 31, 2017 | Comments Off on A Short Play
Scene: A Bank of America ATM in Berkeley, CA, 1997. I have traveled through time to talk to my past self. Past Me: (withdraws a $10 bill from ATM, because that used to be possible) Future Me: One day, decades from now, you will shed real tears over the man pictured on that ten, while […]
Commonality
Posted in History on January 30, 2017 | Comments Off on Commonality
I don’t know much about James Monroe. Last night I started his section in the James Madison book, and got a bit more up to speed about who he was. One interesting tidbit I want to share rather encapsulates why I have become so attached to the study of human history here in the US. […]
Four books done
Posted in History, tagged Theodore Roosevelt on January 29, 2017 | Comments Off on Four books done
Today I did a lot of reading. I imagine this will soon be my primary occupation, as I am weaning from social media and find very little of interest on television. I think a part of me seeks to retreat into a more natural state of slowness and silence, perhaps that goes hand-in-hand with my […]
Washington on my side. The man, not the city.
Posted in History, tagged Hamilton, wine on January 27, 2017 | Comments Off on Washington on my side. The man, not the city.
FYI, my humble blog is not a place where I will regularly discuss the Resistance, unless it becomes absolutely necessary to do so (let us pray that does not happen). Instead I choose to talk about whatever I am reading or studying, or other events of everyday life here in my nation’s brightest blue state. […]
It is difficulties that show what men are
Posted in Books and Reading, History, tagged John Adams on January 21, 2017 | Comments Off on It is difficulties that show what men are
I finished reading “John Adams” this morning. I found it to be very well-written, if decidedly biased for its protagonist, though that is par for the course. A few bullet points: + That James Callender was a real piece of work. Why did it take so long for someone to murder him? Okay we don’t […]
Artifacts for sale
Posted in Hamilton, History on January 18, 2017 | Comments Off on Artifacts for sale
I just watched a live Sotheby’s auction in HD on my phone. Up on the block was a collection of letters and artifacts from the family of Alexander Hamilton. One particular item was a small coil of his hair, cut from his head after he died, then kept in a tiny round case like a […]