Category Archives: USA

To Airbnb or not Airbnb

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Like millions of other travelers, I have used the accommodation service with mostly positive results. Lately though, it seems that most stories about Airbnb range from negative to nightmarish. Still, Airbnb remains the most popular rental service in most markets. … Continue reading →

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Enough with the GOATs

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

It’s that time of the year when the faculty of Lake Superior State University releases an annual list of words that they say deserve to be “banished” from our vocabularies over “misuse, overuse and uselessness.” “Our nominators insisted, and our … Continue reading →

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A Library Is A Spaceship

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

I have been a fan of the wildly imaginative writing of Isaac Asimov since I was a child. Recently I ran across a charming story about the iconic sci-fi author and a letter that he wrote in 1971. He sent … Continue reading →

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Running Into A New Year

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Running Into A New Year I am running into a new year and the old years blow back like a wind that I catch in my hair like strong fingers like all my old promises and it will be hard … Continue reading →

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“The Best Things In Life Are Free”

Posted on January 1, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Today copyrighted works from 1927 will enter the US public domain. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. These include Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse and the final Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Film, History, Music, Photography, Theater, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Hymn to Time

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

HYMN TO TIME by Ursula K. Le Guin Time says “Let there be” every moment and instantly there is space and the radiance of each bright galaxy. And eyes beholding radiance. And the gnats’ flickering dance. And the seas’ expanse. … Continue reading →

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Edward Hopper’s New York

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

I’ve long thought of Edward Hopper as the quintissential New York City painter. His works have always evoked a powerful sense of place and mood.This winter, NYC’s Whitney Museum of American Art is offering a glimpse into the city that … Continue reading →

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

   

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Is Santa from Oz

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

The Life and Adventures Of Santa Claus by author of The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, with its elaborations and much added detail went a long way to popularizing the legend of Santa Claus in North America. However, in the cover … Continue reading →

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I am thinking now of grief, and of getting past it;

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Starlings in Winter by Mary Oliver Chunky and noisy, but with stars in their black feathers, they spring from the telephone wire and instantly they are acrobats in the freezing wind. And now, in the theater of air, they swing … Continue reading →

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