GEORGE WASHINGTON AT TWENTY-ONE Do you remember when you were twenty-one? When you thought you were so incredibly strong. You soon enough began to feel the power in your future begin to weaken, as you prepared yourself for the long run. George Washington of the monument was once twenty-one, and a provincial officer set to [...]
Category: Blog
Making Soap, How it Works!-mini-podcast
George Washington Before the War
GEORGE WASHINGTON BEFORE THE WAR Before that later, more famous war. The revolutionary one. I'm talking here about the earlier, less talked about war. The one not as well known. The"French and Indian War." James Fenimore Cooper wrote about it in "The Last of the Mohicans." You saw the movie. You remember Hawkeye. "No matter [...]
George Washington Getting Ready to Go!
GEORGE WASHINGTON GETTING READY TO GO! The year is 1732. George Washington is born to his father, Augustine, and his second wife, 23- year-old Mary Ball. The home is simple, along Pope's Creek off the Potomac River. Not far upstream is the Fall Line where our interior eastern rivers "fall" off their higher Piedmont basement [...]
The Forum Romanum
THE FORUM ROMANUM Perhaps you've been there before, or just wanted to go. You know, "Et tu, Brute?" That was Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Don't we learn most about ourselves and our history through Shakespeare and the Bible? That is what Orson Wells thought, but he also thought we were being invaded by Martians. At least [...]
Making Soap in Shelby County
MAKING SOAP IN SHELBY COUNTY I teach the four general categories of organic compounds in my Junior College class. "Organic" originally meant that such a compound was produced by life forms. Not always the case, but a good enough definition for this essay. The four categories are carbohydrates (simple sugars, starch, cellulose), proteins (amino [...]
When Radio Ruled
WHEN RADIO RULED When I came of age, television had invaded our lives. Ed Sullivan showed us the Beatles, and the nightly news showed us the daily body counts of the dead in Vietnam. Civil Rights, and the Women's Movement. Revolution in our culture. Rebellion in our generation. But change had had preceded us. [...]
Without William Hartnell, there would be no Dr. Who!
WITHOUT WILLIAM HARTNELL, THERE WOULD BE NO DOCTOR WHO! Jennifer Lawrence is a big Louisville movie star. Oscar caliber talent in "Winter's Bone." She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in "Silver Linings Playbook." But perhaps her most popular roles are in "The Hunger Games" and "X-Men." Fantasy and science fiction film features. [...]
The Protean Life of a Vernian Flight
THE PROTEAN LIFE OF A VERNIAN FLIGHT Scientist, sailor, continental trader. Playwright, poet, lawyer, dreamer. We are all familiar with the famous characters of Jules Verne and the places he took them in exploration. Not just on the land, but in our struggles upon those spaces wherein we live today. He had fought them just [...]
A Jules Vernian Voyage to Kentucky
A JULES VERNIAN VOYAGE TO KENTUCKY My mother was French. French-American as I look back on her lineage now. Good names. Good families. Just like yours. We all have had such similar backgrounds, or I wouldn't be writing, and you wouldn't be reading, this recitation. Congratulations to us all. My mother was a Charette, a [...]