“When left to himself, he always plunged into difficulties, and then shuddered for the consequences.”
— Horace Walpole, regarding the English Prime Minister, the Duke of Newcastle
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
Sentence of the Day: MONTCALM and WOLFE, p. 138
February 28, 2017 at 2:09 pm (Recommended)
Tags: England, history, reading lists
A Good Match 2: Vibrant Orange, 2 Philippine Seascapes
February 27, 2017 at 8:57 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, Family, Food and Drink, Links, Personal Bookshelf, Places, postaday, short story collections, Women Writers)
Tags: Dumaguete, memories, Mondays, postaday, postaweek, The Philippines, Wordpress
This week share a photo of a satisfying pairing from your own life.
— Ben Huberman, The Daily Post
Orange Lydia Davis book cover + woven portfolio from the Philippines + crinkle potato chips = A Good Match (One copy is self’s; the other is her niece’s)
Sea + Sky = Philippine Seascape, An Excellent Match
Sea + Sky: Dumaguete, Island of Negros in the Central Philippines, a Breathtakingly Good Match
Abandoning Fort Necessity
February 27, 2017 at 11:37 am (Books, Recommended)
Tags: history, Mondays, reading lists
Washington (all of 21) suffered his first defeat at the hands of the French, 1753.
His pride was humbled, and his young ambition seemed blasted in the bud.
He abandoned Fort Necessity and began a 52-mile retreat to the English outpost at Wills Creek, early in the morning of July 4. With that retreat, “Not an English flag now waved beyond the Alleghanies.”
Nine Indian tribes contributed men to the French victory: “… nearly all the Western tribes drew their scalping knives for France.”
Gosh! This is too darn exciting!
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
A Good Match: Others
February 25, 2017 at 7:25 pm (destinations, Food and Drink, Links, Lists, Places, postaday, Traveling)
Tags: New York, photography, postaday, postaweek, Saturdays, United Kingdom, websites, Wordpress
Some things just work together: babies and stripes; roadtrips and loud music; beaches and beer. — Ben Huberman, The Daily Post
Here are some good matches from others around WordPress:
- Sukanya Ramanujan posts from a recent trip to the Seychelles (Jealous!)
- A Moment’s Glory posts a picture of the Statue of Liberty (with fireworks!)
- Graham’s Island posts a good example of camouflage (Points flounder!)
- its lovely out posts a picture of a pair of swans (Well done!)
- Bontie se Bloggery posts a picture of pastry with tea (Self is hungry!)
- SueBee and Kat show that nothing goes better with a black leather jacket than a Harley!
- Heaven’s Sunshine shows us a sunrise hike.
Check them out!
Self is gonna be posting from her next trip (United Kingdom) very, very soon!
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
#amreading MONTCALM and WOLFE, Ch. 5, p. 116
February 23, 2017 at 2:51 am (Books, Recommended, Surprises)
Tags: history, reading lists
At this rate, self will still be reading MONTCALM and WOLFE in several months.
But why should she complain? It is an excellent book: the most exciting history she has read in a good, long while. It’s got everything: two stubborn opponents (the French and the British), conflicting allegiances, betrayals, mountains, lakes, forests, rivers, Iroquois, Miami, Ojibwa, Ottawa, and small glimpses of a 21-year-old George Washington receiving his first military command.
A British commander named Dinwiddie orders his men across the mountains, toward a branch of the Monongahela called Redstone Creek, “a distance of about a hundred and forty miles.”
A road for cannon and wagons must be cut through a dense forest and over two ranges of high mountains, besides countless hills and streams. Washington set all his forces to the work, and they spent a fortnight in making twenty miles . . . By the end of May . . . Dinwiddie learned that Washington had crossed the main ridge of the Alleghenies and was encamped with a hundred and fifty men . . . at a place called the Great Meadows. A French detachment had tried to surprise Washington . . . and he had killed or captured the whole.
Killed or captured? Whelp! Strong stuff for a 21-year-old commander.
Washington was aided in this endeavor by an old friend, an Indian called the “Half-King,” (OMG the name!) who sent a runner to warn Washington that the French had been spotted nearby. The Half-King “had found the tracks of two men, and traced them toward a dark glen . . . ”
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
A Good Match: The Daily Post Photo Challenge, 22 February 2017
February 22, 2017 at 7:53 pm (Artists and Writers, Food and Drink, Movies, Places, postaday, Recommended, Surprises, Traveling)
Tags: concerts, Events, film noir, museums, music, postaday, postaweek, San Francisco, Washington DC, Wordpress
- . . . share a photo of things that complement each other.
— Ben Huberman, The Daily Post
Self has wanted to blog this picture for the longest time: at Dulles International, the day she left Washington DC, there was a one-man concert in the departures terminal. OMG, what a send-off this man’s music was! The sign next to the musician announced that the free concert was in honor of Black History Month. WOW. Self has no words. Thrilling.
Merlon Devine, playing at Dulles International, in honor of Black History Month: February 2017
And here’s a sign self saw at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore:
Definitely, Food is Love.
Finally, a poster advertising the annual Noir Film Festival at the Castro Theatre. San Francisco and Noir go together like white on rice:
The 15th Annual Film Noir Festival (Noir City), held at the Castro Theatre
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
#amreading MONTCALM and WOLFE Ch. 5 (1753 – 1754)
February 22, 2017 at 4:09 am (Books, Recommended)
Tags: discoveries, history, inspiration, reading lists
Among the many pleasures of getting to Chapter 5 is seeing a 21-year-old George Washington making his first appearance in the public sphere.
He is tall and slender but not otherwise prepossessing but then during a dangerous mission, he prevents one of his men from killing an enemy combatant, and later they fall into a frozen river and everyone spends a miserable cold night huddled on a riverbank but even back then, even at just 21, Washington already seemed to have that special something. Somehow the mission is successful. And that is a pretty remarkable thing for a 21-year-old tasked with his first assignment.
(Not two pages later, the 21-year-old is placed in command of 200 men, and he does not flinch)
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
#amreading MONTCALM AND WOLFE, p. 79
February 21, 2017 at 3:45 am (Books, Recommended)
Tags: Canada, discoveries, history, Mondays, reading lists
Self is loving this book (she began it three days ago) so much. It’s about a battle that took place in French Canada, in 1759, a battle which culminated in a British victory.
The author, Francis Parkman, brings to life all the conflicting allegiances of that area. When he says “the Miami” and self realizes he’s referring to a tribe (not a city; not a university) — awesome.
An important ally of the British is an Indian chief called Old Britain, also referred to as the Demoiselle.
“. . . a fleet of canoes manned by two-hundred and fifty Ottawa and Ojibwa warriors” attacked an English fort, Pickawilanny, “about nine o’clock on the morning of the twenty-first.” The battle was one-sided: at the fort were eight British traders and fourteen Miamis, including the Demoiselle. Three of the British were caught outside the fort (no mention of what happened to them; self can only imagine) The other five managed to close the gate. The fort’s defenders held out manfully, “till the afternoon.”
Then, Parkman writes: “Seventy years of missionaries had not weaned them from cannibalism, and they boiled and ate the Demoiselle.”
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
Against the Odds 2: Books and City Councils
February 20, 2017 at 6:20 pm (Books, Family, Links, postaday, Recommended, Women Writers)
Tags: advice, California, causes, inspiration, Mondays, politics, postaday, postaweek, Wordpress
An unexpected victory? A snapshot of an unlikely moment? This week, show us something that defies the odds.
— Michelle W., The Daily Post
How about books to help you achieve your dreams?
Books to Straighten Your Thinking in 2017
Daly City Vice Mayor Juslyn Manalo: Filipinos make up a sizable portion of the Daly City population. They struggle against many odds.
At the Most Recent Daly City Council Meeting, Feb. 13, these signs were held by members of the audience.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
Sentence of the Day: “The Boy Who Left Home To Find Out About the Shivers”
February 20, 2017 at 10:05 am (anthologies, Books, Personal Bookshelf, Recommended)
Tags: fairy tales, Mondays, supernatural
from Fairy Tales From the Brothers Grimm, edited by Philip Pullman:
He had just sat down again when from every corner of the room there came black cats and black dogs, each of them wearing a red-hot collar with a red-hot chain.
— from “The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers”
Kanlaon 