I uploaded this image today to test the process and expect to put some photos on my blog from time to time. For now, a simple salute to Old Glory.
Thursday, March 16
Tuesday, March 14
Write your own obituary
Marilyn Johnson, who also edited three major magazines in her 28 year career as a journalist, has written a book about obits. I haven’t yet read the book, “The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries” (Harper Collins, $24.95), but she talked about it with Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg of The Wall Street Journal, (online WSJ, March 14, 2006). Ms. Johnson makes the excellent point that obits written in England top the list.
Thanks to the Internet and the time to roam, I have read many obits in English newspapers and have to agree with Ms. Johnson, who says, “They let them go on. And they let them entertain.” Some English obits make fascinating, enjoyable, smiling reading. They bring the dead to life and tell the good, the bad and the ugly. Snide remarks, peccadilloes, failures and successes and whatever else it takes to make the reader aware of whom and what the deceased was is fair game. The writers include journalists, relatives, friends, colleagues, enemies or even the deceased who anticipated his death and wanted the last word.
Here in the United States, and you can see this in your local daily paper, we are accustomed to reading where and when the deceased was born, his ancestors and descendants are listed as are his major life accomplishments. Most obits we read in our local papers are written by Funeral Directors based on information hurriedly gathered up immediately following the death. They are bland and devoid of anything that brings the deceased to life. The directors who write these usually lack the insight to portray the deceased as the hero or the scoundrel s/he was. The family pays to have them printed in the paper, based on the number of column inches.
Some newspapers will have a reporter write an occasional short piece about a dead politician, a business leader, senior church official (especially one convicted of sexual crimes) or an executed criminal. But they leave the rest of the dead alone and to the inadequacies of sorrowing families and funeral directors. Occasionally a letter to the editor will follow an obit by several days, and all of these are complimentary. No one discusses the warts.
What is the solution? Write your obit now and put it away with your funeral papers if you have such a file, or put it where your spouse or significant other will be able to find it if you die. You can study the outline of the obit formula by reading your daily newspaper. Do this for a week or two and then take up pen and paper and go to work. Put down who you were and what you did that makes you proud. If a life incident is everlasting enjoyable or otherwise significant to you, put it down and share it with the readers. Recently, I read obits where the deceased served with General Patton in the glorious march of the Third Army across France, and the relief of beleaguered American troops in the Battle of the Bulge. Now this belongs in an obit. It doesn’t matter if the deceased was a private who only saw General Patton for a few minutes at a time, he was proud to be in that Third Army and people ought to know it a hundred years from now when they look at old obits on yellowing pages, on microfilm or discs or whatever the storage device is in the future. If you love gardening and want to say something about some darn flower, put it down. If you lived your adult life with a same-sex partner go out the same way, put it in the obit. If you made a fortune or lost one, tell the readers. If you bagged a tiger hunting in Nepal but lost its skin in a poker game later, share the agony of victory and defeat. Let posterity know who and what you really were. Write your own obituary
Thanks to the Internet and the time to roam, I have read many obits in English newspapers and have to agree with Ms. Johnson, who says, “They let them go on. And they let them entertain.” Some English obits make fascinating, enjoyable, smiling reading. They bring the dead to life and tell the good, the bad and the ugly. Snide remarks, peccadilloes, failures and successes and whatever else it takes to make the reader aware of whom and what the deceased was is fair game. The writers include journalists, relatives, friends, colleagues, enemies or even the deceased who anticipated his death and wanted the last word.
Here in the United States, and you can see this in your local daily paper, we are accustomed to reading where and when the deceased was born, his ancestors and descendants are listed as are his major life accomplishments. Most obits we read in our local papers are written by Funeral Directors based on information hurriedly gathered up immediately following the death. They are bland and devoid of anything that brings the deceased to life. The directors who write these usually lack the insight to portray the deceased as the hero or the scoundrel s/he was. The family pays to have them printed in the paper, based on the number of column inches.
Some newspapers will have a reporter write an occasional short piece about a dead politician, a business leader, senior church official (especially one convicted of sexual crimes) or an executed criminal. But they leave the rest of the dead alone and to the inadequacies of sorrowing families and funeral directors. Occasionally a letter to the editor will follow an obit by several days, and all of these are complimentary. No one discusses the warts.
What is the solution? Write your obit now and put it away with your funeral papers if you have such a file, or put it where your spouse or significant other will be able to find it if you die. You can study the outline of the obit formula by reading your daily newspaper. Do this for a week or two and then take up pen and paper and go to work. Put down who you were and what you did that makes you proud. If a life incident is everlasting enjoyable or otherwise significant to you, put it down and share it with the readers. Recently, I read obits where the deceased served with General Patton in the glorious march of the Third Army across France, and the relief of beleaguered American troops in the Battle of the Bulge. Now this belongs in an obit. It doesn’t matter if the deceased was a private who only saw General Patton for a few minutes at a time, he was proud to be in that Third Army and people ought to know it a hundred years from now when they look at old obits on yellowing pages, on microfilm or discs or whatever the storage device is in the future. If you love gardening and want to say something about some darn flower, put it down. If you lived your adult life with a same-sex partner go out the same way, put it in the obit. If you made a fortune or lost one, tell the readers. If you bagged a tiger hunting in Nepal but lost its skin in a poker game later, share the agony of victory and defeat. Let posterity know who and what you really were. Write your own obituary
Monday, February 27
The Week (Feb 19-26) in Review
We had some good days and some not so good last week. We had some good friends in for lunch and saw a popular movie. A restaurant manager surprised us, we went to a birthday party for a 90-year old woman, and I had a root canal. Cold weather slowed down work on the renovation of the porch.
We saw Eight Below, the story about Antarctica explorers returning there to recover sled dogs left behind because there was no room on the plane when the people left in a blinding snowstorm. I agree with the movie critics who say the best thing about the movie is (are?) the dogs. Other parts leave you wondering: why don’t viewers see the actor’s breath while they talk out of doors at the bottom of the world. (Football fans will note this occurs frequently in Green Bay.) And as for flying off in that storm in that small plane which sets up the movie, believing it is a stretch. You don’t have to be a dog lover to enjoy this film. It is that good.
I ordered a chocolate cake for dessert while at Sunday brunch and when the waitress asked how it was I told her the cake was old, dry and not moist. The manager came by shortly after and said she had taken the cake off our bill. “I never order desert in a restaurant,” she said, “because it is usually undersized, overpriced and stale.” For this frankness I omit the name of the restaurant. Would not want that manager fired.
The lunch with long-time friends from Columbia, S.C., opened the week enjoyably and the birthday party closed it in the same manner. I told the elderly lady she has a way to go to catch up with our neighbor who is 99 and currently off on a cross-country trip to visit a daughter in Southern California.
As for the root canal, what is there to say other than the Endodonist did a good job on three roots in about 90 minutes with a minimum of pain. I now, emphasis on now, believe my anxiety was worse than the actual event. But, what the hell, I have never been praised by nurses (as has my wife) for being “a good patient.”
We saw Eight Below, the story about Antarctica explorers returning there to recover sled dogs left behind because there was no room on the plane when the people left in a blinding snowstorm. I agree with the movie critics who say the best thing about the movie is (are?) the dogs. Other parts leave you wondering: why don’t viewers see the actor’s breath while they talk out of doors at the bottom of the world. (Football fans will note this occurs frequently in Green Bay.) And as for flying off in that storm in that small plane which sets up the movie, believing it is a stretch. You don’t have to be a dog lover to enjoy this film. It is that good.
I ordered a chocolate cake for dessert while at Sunday brunch and when the waitress asked how it was I told her the cake was old, dry and not moist. The manager came by shortly after and said she had taken the cake off our bill. “I never order desert in a restaurant,” she said, “because it is usually undersized, overpriced and stale.” For this frankness I omit the name of the restaurant. Would not want that manager fired.
The lunch with long-time friends from Columbia, S.C., opened the week enjoyably and the birthday party closed it in the same manner. I told the elderly lady she has a way to go to catch up with our neighbor who is 99 and currently off on a cross-country trip to visit a daughter in Southern California.
As for the root canal, what is there to say other than the Endodonist did a good job on three roots in about 90 minutes with a minimum of pain. I now, emphasis on now, believe my anxiety was worse than the actual event. But, what the hell, I have never been praised by nurses (as has my wife) for being “a good patient.”
Saturday, February 11
Hemingway & Evans
Today I viewed the Ernest Hemingway & Walker Evans exhibit at the Gibbes Gallery here in Charleston. The collection celebrates three weeks the two men spent in Havana in 1933 in close company meeting, talking, drinking and dining. Hemingway loaned Evans $25. He later forgave the loan. During this time Evans entrusted 44 photos to Hemingway who took them to Key West where they stayed in storage for years and passed to a friend after Hemingway shot himself in 1961. From that friend the pictures made their way to the Kennedy Library and eventually to this touring exhibit. Despite the thousands of pictures Evans – one of the great photo-journalists of the 20th century had published in numerous magazines these originals did not appear in any collections of his work.
Hemingway’s suicide by shotgun in Idaho was a severe disappointment. I recall that on the Sunday morning I read of his death I felt he cheated his family, his friends and his fans, of which I was one, and I took it as a personal betrayal. He had always carried himself in life and written as a man’s man. Suicide, I thought at the time when I was thirty years old, was a coward’s way out and unworthy of a man. Some forty-five years later I continue to believe suicide is wrong, but not necessarily “a coward’s way out.”
The exhibit is on tour and will move to another city in late February, early March.
Hemingway’s suicide by shotgun in Idaho was a severe disappointment. I recall that on the Sunday morning I read of his death I felt he cheated his family, his friends and his fans, of which I was one, and I took it as a personal betrayal. He had always carried himself in life and written as a man’s man. Suicide, I thought at the time when I was thirty years old, was a coward’s way out and unworthy of a man. Some forty-five years later I continue to believe suicide is wrong, but not necessarily “a coward’s way out.”
The exhibit is on tour and will move to another city in late February, early March.
Monday, February 6
Madden's Rules
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, insisted that all 15 Security Council members show up to meetings on time: at 10 a.m. Asked recently by a reporter how this was working out, Bolton said, "I took a list of when they came in. We started just before 10:15. I brought the gavel down at 10. I was the only one in the room, though."
Bolton should have given them John’s (as in John Madden) Rules: Show up on time, listen and play like hell.
Bolton should have given them John’s (as in John Madden) Rules: Show up on time, listen and play like hell.
Sunday, February 5
AXIS Information and Analysis (AIA)
AIA is an information agency that unites professionals having years of experience in collecting and analyzing information about Asia and Eastern Europe. AIA's main attention is focused upon those states that represent a threat to regional and international security, as well as upon areas of ethnic and religious conflict. At the same time, AIA follows the events in those countries that are going through political and socio-economic cataclysms.
I am adding AIA to my links page at my website .
I am adding AIA to my links page at my website .
Friday, February 3
Where the Ice Bowl was played
I read today in an AP story about how the pleasant winter weather around the country is coming to an end. The story reported that January past was the warmest on record in Green Bay, Wisconsin. No further details were given. I assume therefore – just based on the mere coupling of “Green Bay” and “winter,” the temperature was probably about 20-25 degrees Fahrenheit.
Thursday, February 2
Shortest interval of time
Wednesday night as I watched the news about all the security precautions being taken in Detroit for Sunday’s Super Bowl, the thought occurred to me that if Osama bin Laden and his fellow terrorists want to see hell-come-to-breakfast on Monday they should do something stupid at the 40th Super Bowl.
Tuesday night while driving to a social gathering, I lived the immeasurable nano-moment George Carlin calls the “shortest interval of time:” that flashing moment between when the traffic light turns green and the guy (Carlin used a different term) behind you blows his horn. Our paths paralleled on the eastbound highway for less than a half-mile when the horn blower pulled his SUV off the highway to use an ATM machine.
The dog situation about which I have written earlier appears to have succumbed to a “mild solution.” A talk with the neighbor resulted in her promise to tether the animal when she lets him out in the morning (the city requires dogs to be on a leash or under control of the owner.)
Click to see the website: http://www.archibald99.com/
Tuesday night while driving to a social gathering, I lived the immeasurable nano-moment George Carlin calls the “shortest interval of time:” that flashing moment between when the traffic light turns green and the guy (Carlin used a different term) behind you blows his horn. Our paths paralleled on the eastbound highway for less than a half-mile when the horn blower pulled his SUV off the highway to use an ATM machine.
The dog situation about which I have written earlier appears to have succumbed to a “mild solution.” A talk with the neighbor resulted in her promise to tether the animal when she lets him out in the morning (the city requires dogs to be on a leash or under control of the owner.)
Click to see the website: http://www.archibald99.com/
Tuesday, January 31
Wife, dog and Exxon
Those keeping up with us on the neighbor’s dog may be pleased to know today’s score. This morning Wife was adjusting a window when the neighbor’s dog, continuing his preference for our lawn over that of his owner’s, assumed the position to do the daily necessity. Wife opened the window and gave a shout as only a mother of five could muster and the dog took off for home. Score: Wife 1, Dog 0.
Most of us cannot comprehend the true meaning of the $10 billion dollar profit Exxon made last quarter, so today we rely on the Wall St. Journal to tell us it is $80,842 per minute during the quarter. Now, does everybody have that straight?
See earlier postings at www.archibaldinsc.blogspot.com on these and other provocative tales of life.
Most of us cannot comprehend the true meaning of the $10 billion dollar profit Exxon made last quarter, so today we rely on the Wall St. Journal to tell us it is $80,842 per minute during the quarter. Now, does everybody have that straight?
See earlier postings at www.archibaldinsc.blogspot.com on these and other provocative tales of life.
Monday, January 30
Exxon and the rest of us
I got two electronic alerts via e-mail this morning, both advising that Exxon had reported $10 billion profit in the 4th quarter, exceeding it’s own record profit of $9.2 billion in the 3rd quarter. These profits are from record high oil prices and come at a time when people everywhere, faced with higher heating oil and gasoline prices, struggle to make ends meet. In Massachusetts and a congressional district in the Bronx in New York, a non-profit organization and a Bronx Congressman cut deals with Venezuela’s anti-American leader, Hugo Chavez, to furnish heating oil at reduced rates to the poorest of the poor. What kind of national nonsense is this when the Emperor sits in Washington, his buddies in the oil business reap these kinds of profits, American communities everywhere suffer and an oil-rich dictator thumbs his nose at the U.S. and reaps favorable headlines? Something is wrong with this picture!
Friday, January 27
How to stop a dog from crapping on a lawn
This morning a neighbor’s dog came to my front lawn and took a crap. I saw him as he was leaving. My wife saw him yesterday but he took off before she could get out in the yard to rattle and chase him away. The neighbors let this fat white-with-black-markings dog out in the morning and he roams at will, pausing only to crap in my front yard. I said I would Google this problem and my wife laughed. I put the question “how to stop a dog from crapping on a lawn” and instantly Google returned a hundreds of references. I summoned the wife to view the computer screen and said, “Look.”
It seems our problem is one shared by thousands of people who don’t own dogs but live close to irresponsible dog owners who lack the damn sense to train and or curb their dogs. Some suggestions revealed by the Google search include the mild (talk to your neighbor, put out Crap Away; call the dog police,) to the mad-as-hell (shoot the dog with a stun gun*; tie a nicely wrapped box of dog crap to the dog and send him home; staple a small dog to the neighbor’s door and keep stapling larger and larger dogs until the neighbors get the message.)
Citizens who go through daily life in the suburbs without this problem are generally unsympathetic to the victim and take the attitude “better on your lawn than the bottom of my shoe.”
I will work on this problem and if I achieve a “mild” solution I will share it with you via another blog entry. If I have to go to the “mad-as-hell” basket of ideas, well that’s a different story and it will probably be best to take Ben Franklin’s advice: three can keep a secret if two are dead.
[*A policeman in Round O, South Carolina, used a laser gun this week to subdue a Billy goat.]
It seems our problem is one shared by thousands of people who don’t own dogs but live close to irresponsible dog owners who lack the damn sense to train and or curb their dogs. Some suggestions revealed by the Google search include the mild (talk to your neighbor, put out Crap Away; call the dog police,) to the mad-as-hell (shoot the dog with a stun gun*; tie a nicely wrapped box of dog crap to the dog and send him home; staple a small dog to the neighbor’s door and keep stapling larger and larger dogs until the neighbors get the message.)
Citizens who go through daily life in the suburbs without this problem are generally unsympathetic to the victim and take the attitude “better on your lawn than the bottom of my shoe.”
I will work on this problem and if I achieve a “mild” solution I will share it with you via another blog entry. If I have to go to the “mad-as-hell” basket of ideas, well that’s a different story and it will probably be best to take Ben Franklin’s advice: three can keep a secret if two are dead.
[*A policeman in Round O, South Carolina, used a laser gun this week to subdue a Billy goat.]
Tuesday, January 24
Update to revised blog
Update: If you care to comment on the revised blog you can do so directly at the bottom of the posted blog (i.e. click on : http://www.archibaldinsc.blogspot.com/). Sorry I left that important point our earlier.
Revised blog - invitation to critique
This is an invitation to family members to examine my revised blog* and make suggestions/comments. This revision was accomplished over the weekend with help from Patrick. I am working on a mailing list to accompany the blog but I am not there yet. Patrick has set up the mechanics for the list, but, as usual, the devil is in the details. You may create a shortcut to this blog for your desktop so you can return from time to time. I would be interested in knowing if anyone in the family other than me and Patrick has a blog going. Many people put a lot of personal stuff on their blog but mine is tends to be less so.
My web site remains on-line at www.archibald99.com.
*Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. www.bytowninternet.com/glossary
My web site remains on-line at www.archibald99.com.
*Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. www.bytowninternet.com/glossary
Repair or replace: a decision made
My all-in-one printer, scanner, copier (Epson Stylus Photo RX600), bought in April 2004, (you guessed it, warranty exhausted) broke last week and I tried the Problem Solving suggestions in the owner’s manual several times. The black and light cyan ink cartridges would not respond when I tried to print, and there were color variations in copying. This week I called Epson service and paid $9.95 for (flat-rate) technical assistance, plus the phone call charges. (A phone number in California was routed to a woman outside Toronto, Canada.) After almost 23 minutes of re-doing what I had been doing on my own nickel without resolving the problem, she gave me the names and numbers of two authorized repair shops, both more than 100 miles distance from Charleston, S.C. The first shop in Savannah, Georgia, had a customer-friendly rep that walked me through the costs of shipping each way (undetermined), assessing ($50, applied to repairs – if made), and repairing the machine (labor $90 per hour, plus parts). We talked over the low cost of a new all-in-one, improvements in the technology since 2004, and the uncertainty of final repair costs. “The numbers aren’t with you,” he said, “but you decide.” I’m going to get a new all-in-one (HP Photosmart 3210).
The Epson will be re-cycled to a local charity which has a special shop for computers and related gear. They keep a couple of workers on payroll who fix such items up and sell them. Maybe they will have good-luck with this all-in-one.
The Epson will be re-cycled to a local charity which has a special shop for computers and related gear. They keep a couple of workers on payroll who fix such items up and sell them. Maybe they will have good-luck with this all-in-one.
Monday, January 23
Movie Diplomacy
Has anyone else noticed that when Germans elect a new Chancellor and he/she makes the obligatory diplomatic call on the occupant of the White House, some American movie channel shows uncut, uncensored and uninterrupted re-runs of The Longest Day and Patton?
Sunday, January 22
Remaking Blog Page
This is a remake of my blog page done on January 22,2006. The Archives on the right of this page cannot be search by the blogger search in the upper left-hand corner as they are from an earlier period when they were not entirely saved on this blogger.com server. They can, however, be examined by clicking on one of the monthly periods. You can return to this page by clicking on the Back button.
Thursday, January 19
Dress Nice
I just saw the Presidents of Iran and Syria standing side-by-side at an airport. The best thing which could be done for these two is to send them on an all-expense paid trip to London or Rome and get them a tailor. Their suits are an embarrassment to management everywhere.
Have a nice day, and dress nice.
#262 (06-02)
Have a nice day, and dress nice.
#262 (06-02)
Saturday, January 14
The Hollywood Cowboy
Despite talk of Oscars for Brokeback Mountain and its actors, I believe that for millions of people like myself the lasting image of the Hollywood cowboy will be John Wayne sitting astride a big horse, six-gun on his hip, rifle laying at the ready across his saddle, pushing a herd of cows across the plain - not two lightweights on a sheep farm falling in love with each other.
#262 (06-01)
#262 (06-01)
Thursday, December 15
Syriana
If anyone can figure out how all the sub-plots and connivances in the movie Syriana fit together let me know. I saw it last night and did not understand it. This is an anti-CIA movie because you have the Agency targeting and killing a forward thinking Saudi prince just to keep an incompetent prince in power and protect the interests of American oil companies. The Agency would not do this. It would take too many case officers and technicians and the story would leak in a heartbeat.
#261 (05-52)
Note: This is the last posting for 2005.
#261 (05-52)
Note: This is the last posting for 2005.
Wednesday, November 9
"No" to Arnold
California voters said "No" to their Governor, Arnold Schwarznegger, by defeating four initiatives he had promoted and put seveal million dollars of his own money behind, in voting on November 8, 2005. The voters made it clear they would not dump on teachers and unions, nor did they trust any Governor to trim the state budget unilaterally or three retired judges to carve up the legislative districts. This ought to put an end to the talk of amending the U.S. Constitution so Arnold, born in Austria, would be able to run for President. He will face a tough re-election bid next time out.
#260 (05-51)
#260 (05-51)
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