Monthly Archives: July 2025
New Journalism is now quite old
I found on my Kindle a sample I had downloaded long ago of Joan Didion’s first essay collection, Slouching Toward Bethlehem. The first essay in the collection, Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream, was fantastic. Here’s the opening paragraph: THIS IS A … Continue reading
The Aging Smart Home
Planned obsolescence dates back a century to when lightbulb manufacturers in much of North America and Europe formed the Phoebus Cartel in Geneva to deliberately reduce the lifespan of their lightbulbs from 2500 hours to 1000 hours while increasing prices. … Continue reading
Carlton Keith & Hugh Pentecost
In the autumn of 2020, while our travels were restricted by the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to read Keith Robertson’s crime novels. He was the author of the Henry Reed series which I enjoyed as a child, and he published six … Continue reading
I’m a Buster, Not a Boomer
When I was growing up, there was much talk about “The Generation Gap”, which at the time referred to Baby Boomers’ counterculture and divergence from their parents’ values. Eventually, another gap developed between the Baby Boomers and my subsequent Generation … Continue reading
Appointment in Samarra
My least favorite months have always been July and August, as Joklahoma’s sweltering and oppressively muggy summers drive me off the trails and pathways, except for early morning walks on weekends. One of my escapes is to read literature. In … Continue reading
Meador Manor 