Category Archives: USA

Books are natural wonders

Posted on August 16, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

“It had been startling and disappointing to me to find out that story books had been written by people, that books were not natural wonders, coming up of themselves like grass. Yet regardless of where they come from, I cannot … Continue reading →

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Bugging Out

Posted on August 6, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

If you need another reason not to visit the United States this year maybe this will do it. Fortunately, I have not been bitten by bedbugs since I was an adolescent, but I have heard enough horror stories from travelers … Continue reading →

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Eventide

Posted on July 31, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Mary Ruefle erasure of Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” Carl Jung once wrote: “Thoroughly unprepared we take the step into the afternoon of life; worse still, we take this step with the false assumption that our truths … Continue reading →

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Civil Disobedience

Posted on July 4, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth–certainly the machine will wear out… but if it is of such a nature that it … Continue reading →

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Birds of America

Posted on July 2, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

If you’re in Maine, you might want to check out First Fridays at Bowdoin College’s Special Collections Library. On the first Friday of every month, people gather together for a surprise. Some of them have even placed bets on the … Continue reading →

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Hope is a thing with feathers

Posted on June 29, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

“Hope” is the thing with feathers — That perches in the soul — And sings the tune without the words — And never stops — at all — And sweetest — in the Gale — is heard — And sore … Continue reading →

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Dysfunctional Book Club

Posted on June 15, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Badd, Gramm-mar, a comedy series following a dysfunctional reading group in Los Angeles with a rotating cast of comedians that have colliding perspectives, will appear weekly on YouTube on Tuesdays, beginning June 30. The series was created by Matthew Medney, founder … Continue reading →

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Book Machine

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Frequent readers of TBTP know that I have a weird interest in vending machines that defies explanation. And, a book vending machine is my nerdy jam. So, Long Story Books, a new indie bookstore slated to open in late summer … Continue reading →

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*Meditations in an Emergency*

Posted on May 8, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

A poem by Frank O’Hara. It’s the first poem in *Meditations in an Emergency*, 1957: To the Harbormaster I wanted to be sure to reach you; though my ship was on the way it got caught in some moorings. I … Continue reading →

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N is for New York

Posted on May 5, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Those of you who stop by this site on a regular basis are likely aware of my interest in cities, urban transit and city planning. These subjects don’t suggest a topic for a children’s book, but in 1937 New York … Continue reading →

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