It's in the mail 5

 When I was a very young child, one of my regular household chores was to mail letters for my parents.  It was my task to take them about a half block down the street from our suburban Chicago home to the blue collection box on the street corner.  And in the 50 or so years since, I've retained my fascination with postal mail.  Neighborhood mail boxes are much more rare nowadays, and the ones that exist are found in older neighborhoods.  This is one of them.  I passed it yesterday while on Morris Avenue in the center of Birmingham.  Morris Avenue is a relic- a cobblestone street in an old neighborhood of the city that has seen a recent resurgence.  New housing has sprung up nearby, taking varied forms from refurbished high-rise office buildings to newly constructed condos.  New restaurants and nightlife spots are popping up all over.  But while I was visiting one of the older, established businesses in the area, Alabama Peanut Company, I saw the box still standing by, awaiting mail deposits from all the nearby residences and businesses.

Supernova

 It was just a year ago that I bought Matthew Perry's memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.  To this day, I'm not exactly sure why.  I never watched the TV show Friends.  I'm not one who has much fascination with celebrity news.  And "I-battled-substance-abuse" celebrity memoirs are seemingly a dime a dozen.  But for an unexplained reason, I was drawn to this particular book, and Perry's story.  It certainly was a grim one.  It'll take someone better versed in psychology than me to untangle Perry's story of a cold, unloved childhood.  His fight for real affection. His early decent into drug and alcohol use.  And the devastating effect the substances would ultimately take on his life.  But it was an absorbing book, and the time I spent reading it was not wasted.  Through the book, I finally felt a small sort of connection with the actor who I had not paid much attention to throughout his life or mine.  His ended yesterday, and that's given me some pensive moments.  A lot of fine people died yesterday, and no attention will be paid to their lives, while an inordinate amount will be paid to Perry's in consequence of his celebrity.  But in his short and chaotic life, he left a mark on the world.  Many will fondly miss him.  The star has died in a brilliant supernova. The rest of us could do worse.

Matthew Perry : a memoir

National Pizza Month finale

 As October winds down and National Pizza Month draws to a close, I add one more entry to the previous pizza posts of the month.  I save the best for last: my own homemade-from-scratch pizza.  Using a recipe for beer crust that I've honed over the years, and toppings that I've selected from long experience, I made my own extra Supreme pizza.  With a traditional tomato sauce base and generous amounts of whole milk mozzarella on the hand-tossed crust, I added hot Italian sausage, bacon, pepperoni, bell peppers, ring peppers, and olives.  The result is a flavorful and robust pizza that rivals any of the store-bought pies I've sampled this month.  Happy National Pizza Month!

Homemade: Supreme pizza

It's in the mail- celebrity edition

Next up in the continuing series of mailbox posts: this one deserves some background info.  Some years ago, I discovered the now defunct Letter Writers Alliance, an online resource for those who, as I do, value the physical written word.  One quirky product they made available was the Pigeon Post.  This made use of the fact that USPS regulations allow objects of unusual dimensions to be mailed without an enclosure or package.  It turns out you can put a life-sized plastic pigeon in the mail if it has proper postage and an address attached.  My pigeon was named Speckled Jim.  I mailed Speckled Jim to friends and family around the country, where they would photograph him in various locations before returning him to me by mail.  One of these trips, in particular, would turn out to be very special when Jim met a celebrity.  (I frequently point out that I myself have never met an A-list celebrity in the wild.  I've seen them on stage on Broadway, and I've met "specialty" celebrities like Nobel Prize winning scientists, and also local regional celebrities.  But never a major, nationally known one.  So Jim beats me there.)

On one of his trips, Jim went to a friend of mine from high school, who had become a senior flight attendant for American Airlines and was based in Chicago.  As such, she was eligible for the better routes, and often flew to places like Paris and London.  I sent Jim to her so that he may accompany her on one of her trips to London.  She sent back photos of Jim in pubs and neighborhoods, and on a traditional Royal Mail pillar box.  But upon landing on her return flight, I got an excited text saying, "Wait to you see the photo I got!"  And sure enough, on the London-Chicago flight was the star of the Harry Potty movies, Daniel Radcliffe.  My friend had somehow cornered Radcliffe in the airplane galley and persuaded him to pose for a photo with Speckled Jim.  I can't imagine what went through his mind while he did this!  But he was evidentially a good sport about it, and there now exists in the internet ether a photo of the famous child actor incongruously holding a plastic pigeon.

Daniel Radcliffe with Speckled Jim

Constant Gardener 2

 It was 24 days ago that I began the current crop in my Aerogarden Bounty grower.  As of today, the Mega Cherry Tomatoes are flourishing.  I've done the first pruning, so that they will grow dense and compact for maximum yield.  First harvest of tomatoes still a little more than two months away, meaning I should be enjoying fresh vegetables in January, the depths of winter.

It's in the mail 3

 Continuing on from my previous mailbox post, I'd like to show one that I captured on a trip to New York some years ago.  We were staying in the venerable Wellington Hotel (now permanently closed, alas) and since it was a century old high-rise hotel, they had a Cutler Mailbox in the lobby which was apparently still in use.  These boxes can be found in high rise buildings around the city, and were usually attached to chutes so that people in the floors above the lobby could drop mail into the box without descending to the ground floor.  When it worked this was a neat solution, but the chutes were prone to being blocked by clogs, and mail stuck between floors might go undetected for weeks.  There were even rubber stamps used by the postal system to explain this as a reason for delayed mail.  The ornate chute and box systems have been captured in a lovely book showing their variety.  Perhaps a majority of Cutler boxes that exist are no longer in use, but they can be found and are a beautiful reminder of bygone days.

Cutler Mail Box: Wellington Hotel, NYC

Freezer archeology- pandemic edition

 It seems so long ago now, but when the worldwide Covid pandemic was just beginning, supply chains shut down and panic buying set in.  Remember fruitless searches for toilet paper?  In those early days, my favorite local grocery store got cleaned out pretty quickly and remained so for months.  Paper product, dairy items, and fresh meat and poultry were scarce, if not impossible to find.  About all one could purchase in the meat category was some pre-packaged items that had been overlooked by the rampaging masses.  That's how I came to buy a package of Gaspar's Linguica, a funky odd Portuguese smoked sausage that I had never noticed before.  Surely I could use it in some recipe while awaiting the return of fresh meat.  As things developed, the Linguica went into the freezer and was forgotten.  Until this weekend, when I made a concerted effort to organize the freezer chaos.  It was then that I found the neglected sausage that had an expiration date of 2020.  But as it was vacuum packed in heavy plastic, I took my chances and used it in one of my usual dishes- red beans and rice.

As an adopted son of the south, I may risk my membership card by mentioning that most of my best recipes come from that Yankee outfit, the New York Times. For example, I struggled for years to produce an acceptable buttermilk biscuit.  The famed Southern Living Magazine was no help, nor were other local sources.  Only when I tried this recipe from the Times did I reach buttermilk nirvana.  It's been my standard ever since.  Similarly, my recipe for red beans and rice comes not from New Orleans, but from New York.  This weekend's batch turned out delicious, even with pandemic-era sausage.

Red beans and rice

'Zine Day 2

 I've previously discussed the remarkable publishing efforts of Fred Woodworth, the Arizona based one man publishing house responsible for a number of varied publications.  One of them recently arrived- The Opera Glass.  This 'zine is edited by Iris Arnesen, who is responsible for its content, while Fred handles the computer-free printing.  Iris has a background in opera education and puts it to good use in this periodical.  She has a knack for writing compelling extended and detailed plot descriptions of recently performed operas, which are useful to novices like me who don't speak Italian but are interested in the story.  This issue includes Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie, Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Florencia en al Amazonas by Daniel Catan. In this issue's column From the Editor, Iris laments the decline of opera attendance in New York, and the closure of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, along with the shuttering of the guild magazine Opera News.  Arnesen blames this all squarely on one person: Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NAIAD) and presidential advisor during the early stages of the Covid pandemic.  One might think that the reasons underlying the decline of live opera audiences are multifactorial, but Arnesen and Woodworth never miss a chance to vent their ire at Fauci, one of their favorite scapegoats.  As I've said before, I don't always agree with the politics of Woodworth & Arnesen, but I will always admire their dogged publishing efforts.

Opera Glass: Issue 107

Black and white and read all over

 I just received my first issue of County Highway, a printed newspaper.  That's perhaps not remarkable in itself, until one learns that this is a newspaper that is available only in the analog form.  Apart from a web page to buy subscriptions, no digital version of the paper's content exists.  Want to read a precis on Bad Bunny, last weekend's Saturday Night Live guest host/musical guest?  (I do, since I had no idea who he was.) You must get your hands on a copy of this publication.  A real copy.  To have and to hold.  The main point of County Highway is that it exists only in physical form, the way newspapers and magazines once were.  It is a feature of my life that it has spanned the time period that newspapers were once- and only- paper, then were newspapers that had a small presence online.  Then were fully duplicated online.  And now, for the most part, exist only online.  Such is the case with my local paper, The Birmingham News. When I first came to town three decades ago, The News was one of two dailies in town along with the morning paper, the Post-Herald.  The News outlived the Post-Herald, but when it began the transition to online content, the writing was on the wall.  Or at least on the web page.  The physical print edition died a slow, agonizing death- going from daily to three days a week.  I continued to subscribe, even as content became more meager and haphazardly edited (but that's a whole 'nother topic).  Finally, this past Spring, the print edition was ended and the descendent of The Birmingham News now only exists online as AL.com.  And that made me very sad.

So when I recently learned of County Highway, a print only paper, I was intrigued.  In reality, the bi-monthly paper is really more of a lifestyle and human interest magazine, published in newspaper form.  As they describe themselves:

Some of us fear the specter of an incipient totalitarianism emerging from our laptops and iPhones. Some of us are simply allergic to conformity and brand-names. What we share in common is a revulsion at the smugness, sterility, and shitty aesthetics of the culture being forced upon us by monopoly tech platforms and corporate media, and a desire to make something better. We encourage you to think of our publication as a kind of hand-made alternative to the undifferentiated blob of electronic “content” that you scroll through every morning, most of which is produced by robots.

   So I will read and savor my copy, and do all the things one can do with a physical paper. Read it, stack it up. Lend it to a friend. Tuck it in a briefcase. Read it in waiting room. Pass it around the office. Clip out an article and mail it to a relative. All the things we could do before digits, if maybe not so fast.

National Pizza Month 3

 In continuing coverage of National Pizza Month with previous editions here and here, I visited a local independent pizzeria in my home town: All Original Pizzeria of Helena, Alabama.  I've always intended to make consistent comparisons between pizzerias by ordering this same thing, but since All Original doesn't offer a margherita, I went with my otherwise usual order: the meatlovers.  This one came with pepperoni, ham, bacon, beef and sausage.  Toppings were tasty and plentiful, sauce was rich and flavorful (though perhaps a tad too sweet for my tastes) and the crust was tender and chewy.  Overall, an excellent pie.  Takeout service was prompt and friendly- after a long work week, I was home with my pizza with minimal fuss and effort.  I've only visited this establishment a couple times in all my years in Helena, but it will become a more frequent stop in the future.

All Original Pizzeria: Meatlovers

Rare postcard alert

 I've written previously of my long involvement in Postcrossing, the worldwide postcard exchange project.  In eleven years of sending postcards around the world, I have received to date 9,722 cards from 115 different countries.  So a card from a new country is rare.  But today I received one from the tiny Arab Gulf island nation of Bahrain.  The entire country of Bahrain has only 28 registered Postcrossing members (out of about 1.5 million inhabitants), and in the 18 years Postcrossing has existed, the entire country of Bahrain has collectively sent 3,712 cards.  I have personally sent more than 2.5 times as many cards in only 11 years.  That's all to say a card from Bahrain is rare.  And I now have one in my collection.

Just my type 3

 I have previously featured typewriters in my collection here and here, but today I'd like to show a particularly unique one.  Behold the Roxy micro laptop typewriter.  When closed in its built-in case, it is perhaps the thinnest mechanical writing machine ever made.  My particular copy bears the brand label Roxy, but these machines are more commonly known under the brand name Rooy; the lesser known name Roxy came about as part of a legal copyright battle.  I won't get into the specifics of the machine's design, mostly because I can do no better than this long and detailed description of these amazing machines.  I did travel with this typewriter once on a trip to New York City, back when my wife and I made regular long-weekend trips there to see Broadway plays.  On one of our trips we flew to NY, but then took the Amtrak Crescent train from NYC back to Birmingham.  We booked a sleeper compartment for the overnight trip home, which gave me space to type a few letters while in transit, and even mail them at one of the stops along the way.  Now that's the sort of anachronistic analog living I love so much.

'Zine Day

 For several years, I have subscribed to a collection of interesting and unique 'zines.  The current issue of one of these arrived recently, and put me in mind of its iconoclastic author and publisher.  Since 1969, Fred Woodworth has been publishing a assortment of periodicals on a variety of subjects.  His longevity and dedication are perhaps the most astonishing aspect of his work.  To have persisted so long with his primary 'zine, The Match!, is a staggering accomplishment in its own right.  Of high interest to me is that he does this just as he did when he began a lifetime ago- without the use of any sort of digital device in any stage of production.  No computers, no cell phone, no nothing.  Just manual typesetting, and offset press printing on antique equipment.  Nor does Fred use email to communicate- you can reach him only by postal mail (He's glad to respond to mail sent to Fred Woodworth, PO Box 3012, Tucson AZ 85702).  This is probably the reason why you'll not find much about Fred in an online search; he shuns digital devices that much.  Just a sparse Wiki entry, and a single short YouTube video are about the only traces of Fred to be found online.  But the library of his publishing work is vast.  Fred has single-handedly turned out 125 content-packed issues of The Match!  He also regularly publishes the long running niche 'zine The Mystery and Adventure Series Review, of which 61 editions exist.  This is what I received from Fred most recently; a jam-packed volume of articles about vintage boy's adventure series books (you may know of the Hardy Boys, yet there is so much more to the genre), in addition to various cultural and typography topics.  And then there is also The Opera Glass, a 'zine covering opera and fine arts that Fred publishes for his wife, Iris.  It's mind-boggling how Fred gets the energy to maintain such a pace of production, which must be exhausting for a solo editor/publisher.  As a reader, I joined his efforts mid-stream, so to speak, but I find it's been more than ten years that I have been a subscriber (yes, that's yours truly as author of a letter to the editor in one of Fred's publications.)  To be sure, this extraordinary persistence comes with some tradeoffs.  As a long time correspondent with Fred, I have witnessed his gruff side, especially regarding politics.  He and I certainly differ on a number of points.  But that doesn't dimmish in any way my complete respect for his publishing legacy and his contributions to alternative media.  How long Fred's work will continue is an open question.  Equipment and supplies for his vintage printing processes have become scarce.  He's suffered personal setbacks as well.  But however long he may continue, he's already built a legacy to be proud of.

Fred Woodworth: Mystery & Adventure Series Review issue 61

Final mow

 Always my favorite time of the year regarding this tiresome chore. With cool nights and dry days, my Bermuda grass lawn is going into its dormant phase for the winter.  And my regular lawnmowing chore is done for a few months.  There's plenty of yard work yet to be done, as always.  But at least me and John Deere get a rest for a while.

Last of Barset

 Next up on my audio book listening list is The Last Chronicle of Barset, by Anthony Trollope.  This is the last of the six-book series referred to as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, a loosely connected collection of novels dealing with the fictional cathedral town of Barchester.

This final book of the series deals primarily with the crime story mystery of a clergyman who is accused of stealing a check and pocketing the money.  But as with nearly all Trollope novels, there is also a love story of two star-crossed, mis-matched lovers.  Such seems to always be the case in Victorian love stories- a couple separated by social rank, or wealth, or education; something that makes the union an improbable one which they ultimately overcome.  This is not my first time through this novel, or indeed the entire Barsetshire series.  But it's one I enjoy even though I know how the crime mystery ends up.  A few years ago, I was able to visit the grave of the author, Anthony Trollope, in the gigantic Kensal Green Cemetery in London where he rests.  And I feel a special connection to his prolific body of works.

Anniversary

 It was one month ago today that I began, on a whim, this blog.  Wanting to transition away from more modern social media platforms, and back to the older style of long-form, developed blog posts, I began this blog with no specific topic in mind.  Just observations and occurrences in my largely mundane, routine life.  And today, I've reached this minor milestone of 30 days of daily posts.  One may be quick to point out the dullness of the content here so far, but perhaps I'll get small credit for persistence.

 So far, the effort hasn't gained much momentum.  Few views, and no followers or even comments.  But that's not a complaint; indeed, in a way I enjoy it.  What I write here goes virtually unnoticed by the world, so it seems like a deep secret that only I know. Hiding in plain sight, so to speak.  Feels a little subversive, in fact.  In that way, I'm encouraged to continue, knowing that appreciation of these posts is a very rare and exclusive thing.  Here's to another month!

Just my type 2

 Continuing with featured typewriters, I present today's machine: a 1918 Underwood #4. This typewriter (serial #1065013) is perhaps the most meaningful of my collection, as it has been in the family the longest.  Family lore has it that my grandmother used it long ago to write a sort of community gossip column for her local newspaper.  I first became aware of the machine when it was on static display at my parent's Ozarks vacation house in the 1990s.  I inherited it soon thereafter and got it back into working condition.  Since then, it has served me well as a daily typer for my correspondence.  This model and it's more common #5 version were made in astonishingly large numbers and are a common typewriter even today.  They are remarkably hardy and with a little care can continue to be used into their second century.

Underwood #4

Random Wanderings 2

 Today's featured page, courtesy of the Random-izer is the second in a series of peripatetic glimpses of the world wide web. This one is a long extended comic strip from Matthew Inman at The Oatmeal, extolling the virtues of pet dogs.  So I suppose there are some of these said virtues.  I'm more of a cat person, myself.  But dog lovers out there can surely identify with today's featured random page.

Roti

 

 It's not often that I discover something that later becomes a popular fad, but that's just what happened when I read this recent article in the NY Times.  It seems that the Asian flatbread called "roti" is growing in popularity.  For several years, I have used rotis as a staple in my meals, and have enjoyed the simple, yet versatile form of bread.  From a basic form made from water and whole wheat flour, to those flavored with various herb combinations, rotis can be used in sandwiches, wraps, or as a flatbread scoop for spreads, hummus, and a wide variety of bean and lentil dishes.

For the past four years, I have used a remarkable device called a Rotimatic to automatically make my rotis. It's a high-tech robot that uses AI to constantly adjust and improve the roti quality.  And for the most part, it works.  There are times when things go a little haywire, but the countertop device is connected to the internet through Wi-Fi, and the manufacturer can diagnose and fix problems remotely.  It's especially handy since rotis have a very short shelf life, so the ability to make them fresh on demand is essential.

It's in the mail 2

 I came across another interesting mailbox recently.  This one is in an old neighborhood on the southside of Birmingham. There has been a mailbox here for many years, as long as I can remember.  But this particular one looks relatively new.  And when I got closer, I noticed a feature I've never seen before: the mail drop door had been replaced by a narrow slot.  This is, I gather, an anti-theft device, intended to combat the growing threat of mail fishing.  Yes, in 2023, people still send checks by mail often enough to attract thieves who steal the checks and forge them for their own use. Thieves can drop an object on a string with sticky adhesive attached to grab mail in a box and pull it out.  So the new slot, with pivoting metal fingers that form a one-way valve of sorts, effectively prevents this.  First time I've seen this device, though it appears to be more common in places like New York.  If it increases the security of mail, I'm all for it.

National Pizza Month 2

 As National Pizza Month rolls on, I decided to try another version of the standard margherita classic, for scientific purposes of comparison.  Previously, I have samples pizzas here and here.  Today, I stopped at Giuseppe's Cafe, a small independent restaurant near my workplace.  This time, the margherita was not strictly a standard Neapolitan pizza, but perhaps an American interpretation of it.  The crust was not the light, pillowy, crispy-yet-chewy triumph of Pizza Grace, but more of an American thin crust standard.  The toppings were typical margherita simplicity: tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, olive oil.  But curiously, no sauce.  Cheese, diced tomatoes, and a generous splash of oil, topped with a chiffonade of basil.  The pizza would have benefitted from the flavor of a rich sauce base.  Instead, the pizza was rather bland.  Perfectly edible, but lagging behind the others I have sampled so far.

Giuseppe's Cafe: Margherita

Post game wrapup

 I live in the Deep South, where college football is virtually a religion. From Labor Day to New Years Day, family events like weddings and reunions must be planned with caution, so as not to conflict with the Saturday priority of college football.  While I would otherwise not be a big fan of football, I do follow college games, if only to be conversant with friends and family this time of year.  But one of my legitimately favorite parts of the year has become the collection of humorous wrap-up videos that follow the weekend games.  There are three primary ones that I make a point to always view: Funny Maine, SEC Shorts, and Matt Mitchell's SEC Roll Call.  All of these video offerings had humble beginnings several years ago- think bored community theater actors and an iPhone. But they all have rapidly grown in sophistication and production values, to the point where they are now reasonably professional, and they all have linked merchandise and/or commercial sponsors.  Funny Maine is a solo act and rabid Crimson Tide fan who started as a simple reaction video, shot as if he was responding to game tv coverage in real time.  He has now grown his concept with costumes, themes and special effects.  SEC Shorts grew out of a Birmingham community theater - like group and now is sponsored and even has a traveling live stage show.  Matt Mitchell was once a member of another local video comedy group but has spun off to a solo act.  During college football season, he is a one-man show depicting a conference call of SEC teams after the weekend's contests.  Easily the most comedy-dense of the weekly videos, it requires a broad familiarity of all the league games to appreciate the rapid one-liners Mitchell reels off in his intensely edited videos.  So whether my preferred team wins or loses, the post game wrap up videos always bring a smile to my face.

SEC Roll Call: Matt Mitchell

Constant gardener

 I've just re-set my venerable, trusty old Aerogarden Bounty indoor hydroponic garden.  For the past several months, I have used the Aerogarden to grow a large crop of jalapeno peppers. The harvest throughout the summer has been enough for me to cook several different dishes, and also to pickle and can seven pints of sliced peppers.  But now that has come to an end, the garden has been emptied and cleaned, and is now beginning a crop of cherry tomatoes.  I look forward to harvesting these in the deepest, darkest parts of winter.  Nothing like fresh, home-grown produce!

Aerogarden Bounty: jalapeno peppers

It's in the mail

 Among the various social media sites that I regularly visit are a couple of quaint ones that are devoted to mailboxes.  Since they are in England, the mail collection boxes, or pillar boxes, are often very old and usually have a lot of character.  They also tend to be located in scenic locations which makes for beautiful photography.  This inspires me to follow their example, even though my efforts may not be as compelling.  The standard USPS blue collection box doesn't seem to be as photogenic as an English pillar box, and their locations not as scenic.  Regardless, I now present the first in what I hope will be a long running series:  mailbox spotting.

First up is a box incongruously located at the edge of a suburban strip mall parking lot.  I wonder who uses it- the nearby store staff?  Perhaps passing customers?  It has both a walkup drop slot and a drive-by chute for automobiles.  I'm curious how much this peripheral box is used.  

 

Shutdown!

 This is always one of my favorite days of the year. Just moments ago, I turned off the house A/C system and opened the windows. Cool, dry air is now flooding in for the first time in months!  The A/C has earned a well deserved rest after running nonstop since mid April. Such is life in the Deep South, in a world where man is driving the climate dramatically hotter. But at last, an authentic Autumn day has arrived. 

The Mother Road

 Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago very near to the beginning of the venerable Route 66, I was always aware of its storied history.  And now in the final stretch of my life, I am drawn back to the history and the cultural significance of the famous road.  Established in 1926, Route 66 ran from downtown Chicago to Santa Monica, California, a total (in original form) of 2,448 miles.  For years, it's been my dream to take a long, slow, deliberate drive down what remains of Route 66 today.  Call it one of my "bucket list" items. I've studied the route via tour books and a plethora of online references, and in a way I feel like I've travelled it already.  But one day, probably after retirement, I hope to take an RV of some sort and cover the mother road, and in doing so, see a sizable part of this vast country.

As the trip at this point only exists in daydreams, I've already selected my choice RV for the journey.  A Bowlus Volterra camper trailer.  These unique trailers have their roots in an original 1934 design by Hawley Bowlus, a former airplane designer who was involved in the design of Charles Lindburg's Spirit of St. Louis.  The modern company was re-established in 2014 and uses design cues from the original trailer designs.  What attracts me is the combination of old-school design and leading edge high tech equipment.  The Volterra is an all-electric design with astonishing battery technology that allows long term off-grid living, even while using energy hungry devices like air conditioning.  All in a beautiful, striking, compact and lightweight package.  So in my dream journey along historic Route 66, I will live in a historic camping trailer.  In my dreams, anyway.  In reality, a Bowlus Volterra costs nearly $400,000, far more than my large, comfortable (but unmovable) house.  Still, one can dream.

Random wanderings

 One of my favorite time killing activities is to surf around to random internet web sites with the use of this one.  With a single click, I can be directed to sites that are entertaining, amusing, engrossing, or banal.  Such peripatetic web surfing can also be dangerous, so use some sort of digital bodyguard (I use McAfee Web Advisor to give me the wave-off from suspicious sites) and practice safe surfing.

One fun site I discovered years ago was one that evoked happy childhood memories.  Inspiral Web is an online digital version of one of my favorite childhood toys, the Spirograph.  With a few clicks, I can arrange the gears and wheels to produce colorful and beautiful geometric doodles.  I don't know what happened to by beloved childhood toy, but this online version is nearly as fun.

Spirograph: the online emulator

Oh, Miriam!

 Next up in my reading list (or to be more correct, listening list) is the newest memoir of British actress Miriam Margolyes, Oh, Miriam!  This volume comes in quick succession after her autobiography This Much Is True which came out in September 2021.  Many will know Margolyes as Professor Sprout from multiple Harry Potter movies, but I first knew her as Lady Whiteadder in the Blackadder television sitcom.  More recently, she played housekeeper Mrs. Fisk in the feature film The Man Who Invented Christmas, which tells the tale of Charles Dickens as he wrote A Christmas Carol.  An appropriate casting, as Margolyes is an enthusiastic patron of the Charles Dickens Museum in London.  I'm looking forward to this book, which promises to relate many of Miriam's most amusing anecdotes, for which she is justly famous as an entertaining talk show guest.

Miriam Margolyes

Postcrossing Anniversary

 Today is my 11th anniversary as a member of Postcrossing, the worldwide postcard exchange organization.  On this day over a decade ago, I began a hobby that has become a core ritual in my daily life.  As it satisfies my old fashioned proclivities, I get a glimpse of life in foreign countries, and a taste of travel while not leaving home.  It is now a crucial routine of my day: usually early each morning, I sit at my desk and draw five random addresses from the Postcrossing web page to which I will send a postcard.  My inventory of postcards has grown over the years as I try to maintain a broad selection of cards to suit the tastes of the day's recipients.  It is a quiet and contemplative start to my day as I write each postcard, affix a combination of stamps, and otherwise mark and decorate the card before dropping it off at the local post office on my way to work.  That's also when I pick up the cards I've received from other Postcrossers, and take them home to register in the system while reading the message from each sender.  During the time reading and writing postcards, I sometimes imagine living in a simpler time when communication between individuals was more tangible and personal, more direct and meaningful.

 Now as a senior member of Postcrossing, I've racked up some impressive statistics.  There are 804,490 Postcrossing members worldwide, and 74,371 in the USA.  In terms of number of postcards sent, I rank 28th among all USA members, and I rank #1 among the 827 members in Alabama.  In the past eleven years, I have sent 9,733 postcards, and received 9,687.  I currently send about 100 each month and have exchanged cards with 114 different countries in total.  I think I may actually stick with this hobby for a while!

Outgoing mail Postcrossing postcards

National Pizza Month

 Among the plethora of faux holidays celebrating food, there are many single days dedicated to run-of-the-mill eatables.  But only a preeminent food like pizza warrants a whole month.  And so we begin the devout observation of National Pizza Month.  Accordingly, I had lunch with my lovely and talented wife yesterday at Vecchia Pizzeria and Mercato to kick of the month's festivities.  Using ingredients and wood-fired ovens from Italy, Vecchio crafts authentic Neapolitan pizza. They've even been certified by VPN, and organization dedicated to regulating the traditional techniques of the first pizza style.  In the spirit of authenticity, I ordered a margherita pizza, the original classic style (one that I also recently sampled at another pizzeria).  The Vecchia pie had a light and crispy crust, flavorful sauce, and a healthy amount of mozzarella cheese.  We enjoyed our meal with a Peroni beer from Italy, and sat outside in the beautiful streetside cafe setting.  For those looking for pizza in the best Neapolitan tradition, one needs go no further than Vecchia.

Vecchia margherita pizza

I'm with the banned

 This week is Banned Book Week, during which we direct our attention to the important issue of censorship.  As dismaying as it may be to say, in the land of the free, a sizable portion of the population would prefer to prevent others from reading books of their own choice.  Perversely, there are organizations of such people, often members of groups with names that include words like "liberty" or "freedom" which insist on quite the opposite.  Instead of avoiding books they object to, they insist on preventing others from reading books they object to.  There can be nothing more cowardly and despicable than obstructing someone else's choice of reading.  When one is afraid of pure ideas, one is afraid of life. And yet, book banners are among us in this modern age; indeed, they seem to be proliferating.  Some pathetic souls even make it a full-time job to ban books for others. But it is abundantly clear: book banners have never turned out to be the heroes of history.

So this week, we focus on the ancient problem that plagues our modern, enlightened society.  Activities, demonstrations, and awareness events are to be found around the country, culminating in a day of action on October 7th.  It is crucial that we resist the banners, scorn their misguided motives, and preserve the ability of all to explore any ideas they wish.  Let freedom read!

World Postcard Day

 On this day, we celebrate an amazing communication device, the postcard.  The simple pre-printed small paper card has a long history that since 1869 has been conveying simple personal messages to eager recipients.  In the pre-digital age, a postcard from a travelling friend or family member was a pleasant souvenir of their journey.  Today, such use is rare, but the postcard is preserved by exchange organizations like Postcrossing where collectors and enthusiasts trade cards with other members all around the world.  This pleasant hobby has allowed me to meet people and learn of different cultures without leaving my chair at home. So today, Postcrossing members will send postcards and earn a special badge on their profile, marking participation on 2023 World Postcard Day.

World Postcard Day 2023