One of my favorite things about artist Charles Willson Peale is that he named his sons Rembrandt, Raphaelle, Rubens, and Titian. That takes guts. He also painted this 18th c. portrait of … Hamilton? Yeah I’m not sure who that is.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Did you know
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged art on April 3, 2017 | Comments Off on Did you know
Red Blend
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged wine on April 2, 2017 | Comments Off on Red Blend
Tried this at a tasting not long ago, then saw it was on sale. Had to buy two. It is really quite lovely. Many may not realize this, but Washington State produces some fantastic wine. Maybe for my next historical project I will learn about not only when Americans began to cultivate wine grapes, but […]
floral; honey; cranberry; earthy
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged wine on March 12, 2017 | Comments Off on floral; honey; cranberry; earthy
Last night I attended a wine tasting party at a friend’s house. Each guest brought two bottles and something to eat; I brought a good Zinfandel that I like, a Sauvignon Blanc, a wedge of manchego cheese, and an entree of thai chicken sliders with sriracha mayonnaise. The hostess, who is far more of an […]
Candle light
Posted in Uncategorized on March 10, 2017 | Comments Off on Candle light
Last night there was a powerful windstorm. The power was knocked out for a few hours, starting around 1am. The house was plunged into a soft black darkness and silence, save the howling of the wind through the forest, the sound of large boughs heavily crashing against the roof then sliding to the ground below, […]
George + Gilbert
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged George Washington on February 15, 2017 | Comments Off on George + Gilbert
George Washington was cold and formal — when he wanted to be. Other times, he lavished affection upon the Marquis de Lafayette, as seen in this very long letter from September of 1779. A few choice passages: Your forward Zeal in the cause of liberty—Your singular attachment to this infant world—Your ardent & persevering efforts, […]
Mood
Posted in Uncategorized on February 12, 2017 | Comments Off on Mood
This cute zipper pouch accurately describes how I sometimes feel about this blog.
George A. Svereika
Posted in Uncategorized on February 12, 2017 | Comments Off on George A. Svereika
In the mid-nineties, I sometimes visited a Berkeley junkyard that doubled as a thrift shop. The outside area was full of collections of old windows, bicycles, pastel-colored toilets, and other random parts of houses that had been deemed salvageable. Inside the warehouse, there lived a collection of random junk that ranged from dusty encyclopedias to […]
Data
Posted in Uncategorized on February 4, 2017 | Comments Off on Data
Google analytics tells me that people are coming to this page, it tells me approximately when, and it tells me where you are, but it also tells me that users don’t stick around for very long. There does not seem to be a great deal of interest, which I suppose is my own fault for […]
Habits
Posted in Uncategorized on February 2, 2017 | Comments Off on Habits
Removing most social media and television from my life — in effect scaling back screen time — has also produced two interesting side effects. First, I noticed that I now engage in much less shopping for unnecessary items. Perhaps I am now more intentional in how I use my time, so I don’t fall into […]
Walk in the Forest
Posted in Uncategorized on January 30, 2017 | Comments Off on Walk in the Forest
What a gloomy and gray day it has been. I took a long forest walk in a local park, noticing the stark colorless bareness of the vegetation around me, skinny gray tree trunks and dry leafless brown brambles curling along the earth, all silent except for the sound of thin brooks weaving through the wood. […]