Various and Sundry

A Look Inside the Gateway Arch

Not being from, or not having any occasion to pass through, St. Louis, I’ll admit I haven’t thought much about the Gateway Arch to the extent that I had no idea who designed it, who built it, and when (I mean, besides the reasonable premise that it was post-WWII and probably before Tom Hanks played Forrest Gump). So I found myself captivated by this roughly 15-minute animation by Jared Owen that explains how the Arch…

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Various and Sundry

Leif Erikson Day 2024

It’s October 9th, which means it’s Leif Erikson Day here in the United States, which you’ll be forgiven for not knowing exists, unless you, say, grew up in a household full of history buffs with Scandinavian heritage. Then, you bite your thumb, sir, at Columbus Day. It’s a Viking thing. But is it, really? Enter Cat Jarman to give us all some much needed Viking Support:

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Various and Sundry

John Oliver’s Evolution as a Non-Journalist

I’ve been a fan of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver pretty much since it’s inception, as my regular readers may have guessed. Last Week Tonight is funny, insightful, enraging, and understands that sight gags, especially those involving mascots, are comedy gold. Like Jon Stewart and The Daily Show before him, Oliver pushes back at the label of “journalist,” even as he delivers information that might otherwise be called news. (Considering Oliver started as a…

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Writing

Writing and Rejection: Toni Morrison Edition

So let’s say you’ve been reading the posts last week during Banned Books Week and you’re thinking you’d like to write your own tome that will one day vex some censorious-minded individual by its very existence. Well, first off: great bucket list item. I’ve yet to meet an author who doesn’t find it as amusing to be in that circle of writers even as they’re annoyed at the small-mindedness of others that put them there.…

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Various and Sundry Writing

Short Stories to Get the Imagination Flowing

Okay, so I’ve been posting daily during this Banned Books Week, but perhaps you’re reading this and feeling guilty that you haven’t dived into some banned book. You shouldn’t. The only people who should feel guilty should be people who are say, trying to burn books they haven’t read in a school’s furnace. Bear in mind: Enter Emily Temple compiling a list of 43 of the most iconic and engaging short stories in the English…

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Various and Sundry Writing

Children’s Books are Dangerous

As I continue to celebrate Banned Books Week 2024, I feel I need to follow up yesterday’s post about Kurt Vonnegut’s “dignified fury” with mockery… and when they’re cooking with gas, few folks mock as well as McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Shanna Walsh, who as a former middle school teacher knows a thing or two about the dangers facing kids, gives us a list of children’s books that will make their brains rot… or possibly their…

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Writing

Kurt Vonnegut: “I am very real”

In celebration of Banned Books Week, I have a post I’ve meant to make for some years now. With every story I read about the late writer Kurt Vonnegut, it reminds me that I should read and re-visit his own stories — his novels. One of these stories relates to a letter he wrote to some honest-to-badness book burners. I first read it on Letters of Note (note, paywall) and also via the Peabody Institute…

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Various and Sundry Writing

Banned Books Week 2024

I’ve always enjoyed the official start of Fall, but one of the more recent heralds of the season is Banned Books Week, something I’ve posted about on this blog since 2018. Much like Pumpkin Spice, some people hate on particular books for the most spurious of reasons. And then some people get mad that you use words like ‘spurious,’ which they’re pretty sure has to be a naughty word. I’ll be posting throughout the week,…

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Various and Sundry

Let’s Talk About Pirates

On this, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, it is only just and right that we talk about pirates not simply like them. Now, I’ve posted about pirates before, and you should definitely check out Isli Lawrence’s video which I linked to before. She also has this piece specifically about famous pirates: But why confine yourself to just one pirate historian? Enter Rebecca Simon, who has a whole host of insights to give you that’ll…

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