Department of Redundancy Department

At one of the Holiday Bazaars I attended this year, I finally decided to accept the proffered taste of a specific food item (which shall go nameless here, lest many of you know exactly who and what I’m talking about). This particular vendor has participated in many...

Comfort and Joy!

This Saturday, December 14, concludes my 2013 incredibly strenuous 8-week bazaar marathon. On Saturday, I’ll be at the Astoria Event Center, (on 9th between Commerical ad Marine) hawking my books during the Winter Brew Cup Event, from 10-4. And shortly thereafter,...

Bastardizing Classic Poetry

On this date in 1854, Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” was published in England. In January, 1860, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow released “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” and in 1906, yet another English Alfred, Alfred Noyes,...

Legacies

My mother was the somewhat unwilling collector of black and white cow paraphernalia. From refrigerator magnets, to stuffed animals, to cookie jars, to earrings, if it had the familiar markings of a Holstein on it, we all thought Mom should have it. Aunt Jo, on the...

Party Hats

Definitely an underreported news item, I recently read that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had sponsored a contest to design a new and improved condom. Yes, that Bill Gates. The inspired idea for the competition was that condoms need to be easier to use, and...