Category Archives: USA

Whole lotta shaking going on

I don’t have a lot of personal experience with earthquakes. My area of North America is in a low to moderate risk zone. Although we did have a 2.30 quake in my town about 14 years ago. At the time, … Continue reading

Posted in Maps, Tech, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

“What is the purpose of all this?”

In the beginning, God created the earth, and he looked upon it in His cosmic loneliness. And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what We have done.” And God created every … Continue reading

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Dead Stars

DEAD STARS by Ada Limón Out here, there’s a bowing even the trees are doing. Winter’s icy hand at the back of all of us. Black bark, slick yellow leaves, a kind of stillness that feels so mute it’s almost … Continue reading

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Browse, Borrow, Board

The U.S. city of Boston is making borrowing reading material on-the-go more accessible through a pilot program that will offer public transit users access digital content from books and periodicals to audiobooks and newspapers at 20 bus stops across the … Continue reading

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What’s your sign

I have recently noticed a number of stories online suggesting that there is a resurgence in the popularity of astrology. While I do not want to wander into the quagmire of discussing  astrology, it’s interesting to note that the pseudo-science … Continue reading

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Memories of Tomorrow

I’ve long been a fan of vintage travel posters and I especially enjoy the historic posters created to promote the U.S. National Parks. In 1934, the park service began to encourage  state and national park tourism by designing their own … Continue reading

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Who the hell is Edgar ?

Here in the former Colonies we rarely pay any attention to the annual Eurovision music contest. However, this year the spirit of the iconic 19th century American author Edgar Allan Poe appears to be the inspiration for Austria’s entry in … Continue reading

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Picturing Maps

I have long been intrigued by old school pictoral maps. The exmples above and below are from the  University of Michigan’s Clark Library Maps collection, each shows the United States through a different cultural lens, covering everything from literary giants … Continue reading

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The supply of strange ideas is not endless.

“The Flight of Pigeons from the Palace” by Donald Barthelme In the abandoned palazzo, weeds and old blankets filled the rooms. The palazzo was in bad shape. We cleaned the abandoned palazzo for ten years. We scoured the stones. The … Continue reading

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Some Good Advice

In 2006, Ms. Lockwood, an English teacher at Xavier High School in New York City, gave her students an assignment to write persuasive letters inviting their favorite authors to the school. Five students chose Kurt Vonnegut. Though 84-year-old Vonnegut couldn’t … Continue reading

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