A summary of my 2022 trip to Europe and trans-Atlantic cruise on the Wonder of the Seas. Cities visited include London, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, Cartegena, Málaga, Nassau, and Port Canaveral/Orlando.
A short story in the style of a fictionalized news/magazine article submitted as a typewritten piece for a monthly writing contest sponsored by a local book store.
In 1778, The Duke of Cornwall threw a legendary, invitation-only and fancy-dress party near Newquay on the southeastern coast of England. What made this festive masquerade noteworthy however, is that it was considered the high water mark for the golden age of the beach ball. Rather than hosting it indoors in a manor house or palace, this spectacle took place on the sands of Perranporth beach.
My father sent this book to me about a week ago. He heard an interview with the author (Edward T. Haslam) on the radio and thought it might be an intriguing read.
This handout was distributed at a school in Idaho during a meeting with parents to discuss concerns about literature being used in the curriculum. A few thoughts…
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is nothing new and has been around for decades, but it seems to have been suddenly thrust into the mainstream debate within the last year or so and branded as public enemy #1 by its critics who call it Marxist ideology or some sort of communist conspiracy ‘pushed’ by liberals and Democrats in an effort to make students ‘hate America’. I don’t doubt that liberals and Democrats tend to be more supportive of CRT, but to confuse it with Marxism or some sort of nefarious plot is just silly in my opinion.
Two weeks ago (April 13th, 2021), the Idaho House of Representatives voted 34-34 after a contentious debate on an appropriations bill. HB354 was supposed to fund K-12 education in the state, including salaries and benefits for teachers. Lacking the necessary majority support, it failed to advance.
One of my frustrations with the state of political discourse these days, is the focus on people rather than on the ideas or principles that they are supposed to represent. For example, during the 2020 US presidential election, most of the ‘reasons’ I heard for supporting a candidate amounted to personal and character attacks against the other candidate(s). When asked what their preferred candidate actually represented ideologically, or what their platform or policy proposals were, many people drew a blank. Usually, the answer was something along the lines of, “Well, he’s not the other guy.”
When I was preparing to give overseas dating a try back in 2017, I heard many stories and warnings about Email romance scams. People (typically men) spend hours corresponding with someone overseas who they believe is a romantic interest. In reality, the person they’re talking to is not who they say they are, and they are most certainly not in love. In fact, these are often sophisticated operations—ran like call centers—involving teams of Email writers who make money ‘stringing’ victims along with hopes of romance, companionship, future visits, and intimacy.
