By Mark | January 2, 2020
On this site a few days ago, in a conversation about the misdeeds of our ancestors, Jean Henry mentioned that a relative of hers, Colonel Ephraim Doolittle of Shoreham, Vermont, was likely responsible for the deaths of many men in his command at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June of 1775. Doolittle and his […]
Posted in History, Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Also tagged 1765, 1775, Arthur Lee "Pickle" Avery, Asa Lawrence, Battle of Bunker Hill, Beardstown, Boston, Breed's Hill, Charles Babbidge, Church of Christ, Continental 7th, cowardice, Daniel Avery, David Avery, Doolittle Regiment, Ephraim Doolittle, genealogy, George Washington, Groton, Illinois, Isles of Shoals, Mark's ancestors, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, minute-men, New Hampshire, Pepperell, Pepperrel, Revolutionary War, Sarah Horn, Schuyler, Townsend, William Prescott |
My daughter, Clementine, completed her 15th trip around the sun this morning at 8:23 AM. I’d like to say how proud I am of her, how much my heart swells whenever I think about her, and how confident I am that she’ll grow up to do great things, but, as I know that she’d absolutely […]
Late last week, I took a few days off from work and went to Chicago with the family. We visited friends, ate really good brisket, poked our heads into the small and dark apartment of Henry Darger, invested way too much time studying the habits of the longnose walking batfish, and spent Linette’s birthday seeing […]
Posted in Art and Culture, Uncategorized | Also tagged 1975, 1980, Al Dewey, Amphetamine Reptile, amphetamines, Chicago, coffins, decapitation, Department of Homeland Security, domestic terrorism, drinking, fiction, folk art, Green Street Meats, Hamilton, Hand-Carved Coffins, Henry Darger, hoaxes, In Cold Blood, Intuit, Jake Pepper, Johnny Carson, Kansas, Linette Lao, longnose walking batfish, murder, Music for Chameleons, Perry Smith, pumpkins, rattlesnake, Richard "Dick" Hickock, Richard Nixon, Rose Styron, Shedd Aquarium, silent rattlesnakes, snakes, Studio 54, Thanksgiving, The Tonight Show, Truman Capote, vacations, visionary art, white nationalism |
About a week and a half ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a news conference at the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv, where he stood in front of an enormous “Iran lied” graphic, and talked of the country’s covert nuclear arms program. What wasn’t clear to everyone watching, however, was that none of […]
Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged abortion, anti-Muslim, AT&T, Benjamin Netanyahu, bribery, China, Christiane Amanpour, Donald Trump, fast food, fat shaming, Hassan Rouhani, India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, JCPOA, John Brennan, John Kerry, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, lies, Lynn, madness, McDonald’s, Michael Cohen, national security, nuclear proliferation, nuclear weapons, post-truth, quotes, Russia, sanctions, Valerie Plame, Viktor Vekselberg |
By Mark | February 28, 2018
A few days ago, in response to a post that I’d written about the young leaders emerging from the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, there was an interesting exchange between two of our favorite commenters, Jean [the first comment above] and Lynn [the second comment above], about, among other things, the idea that sometimes, for true […]
Posted in Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Also tagged aging, aging population, assault weapons, Barack Obama, Climate Change, DAY, Defend Affordable Ypsi, fear of death, Grace Lao, gun control, international youth movements, life and death, Linette, Lynn, Martin Luther King, meditations on death, Moms Demand Action, moral arc, on facing death, Parkland, Theodore Parker |
