Monthly Archives: August 2015

Lagniappe

Posted on August 31, 2015 by

I can’t resist starting with some awesome photos of watermelon sculptures. That’s right, watermelon sculptures. If this doesn’t make you smile, nothing will. — — — — — I learned a little history while reading Katherine Anne Porter’s Pale Horse, … Continue reading →

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Quotes of Note

Posted on August 28, 2015 by

There has died and been buried in this city, during the current week, at an advanced age, a man who is so little known, even by name, to the generation now in the vigor of life that only one newspaper … Continue reading →

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Nom de Plume

Posted on August 26, 2015 by

I am currently reading Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms by Carmela Ciuraru, and I highly recommend it. Ciuraru’s writing style is very inviting, and the stories she tells are fascinating. Though you may not be familiar with … Continue reading →

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Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire

Posted on August 21, 2015 by

For many years Vanity Fair has included a feature called the “Proust Questionnaire” each month in its magazine.  It is named after author Marcel Proust who supposedly answered a questionnaire of this sort at some point in his life.  The … Continue reading →

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Talking About Books . . .

Posted on August 18, 2015 by

A year before he died, F. Scott Fitzgerald, completed a short story about an alcoholic writer who is diagnosed with heart problems. Since Fitzgerald was an alcoholic writer with a heart problem (which would cause his death) we can assume … Continue reading →

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Music Notes

Posted on August 14, 2015 by

Thirty-five years ago the renowned violinist Roman Totenberg was greeting guests after a concert when someone stole the Stradivarius violin that he had lovingly played for 38 years. Totenberg suspected a man named Philip Johnson who Totenberg had seen near … Continue reading →

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Words at Play

Posted on August 11, 2015 by

Campus Reform, a Conservative website, recently featured a story about a guide on the University of New Hampshire website that lists biased words and phrases along with appropriate substitutes. One of the words is “American,” which implies, so the guide … Continue reading →

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