and love rules the day.
—
rainbows apologize for angry skies. ~sylvia voirol
Jun26
Tag Archives: history
Jun16
make fudge, not war.
through the generations, murdick’s fudge on mackinac island
has been recognized as an iconic michigan favorite.
—
with 17 fudge shops on the celebrated historical mackinac island of michigan,
all offering free samples,
there is an ongoing rivalry between 6 rival companies,
each claiming to be the best.
my suggestion is to try them all to make it a fair contest
and decide for yourself.
—
mackinac island fudge festival | august 21-23, 2015
while fudge was not invented on mackinac island, mackinac island’s fudge has become the most popular fudge in america. this festival celebrates the creamy goodness with events such as Dining Under the Influence of Fudge, Fudge on the Rocks, Michigan Craft Brew Beer Tastings, Great Turtle Slow Ride and the coveted “Daddy, I Want the Golden Ticket” vacation giveaway.
happy national fudge day – june 16
—
save the earth. it’s the only planet with chocolate. ~author unknown
MACKINAC ISLAND
Covering 3.8 square miles, Mackinac Island is located in Lake Huron at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsula. It is only accessible by ferry or plane. • The island was home to Native American settlements before European exploration began in the 1600s.
It also was a key site for the Great Lakes Fur Trade and was home to Fort Mackinac, built by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the scene of two battles during the War of 1812. In the late 19th century, the island became a popular tourist destination and summer colony, and that popularity gets stronger by the summer.
The entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark. Battle sites, historic buildings, the fort, and dozens of additional diversions, including Original Murdick’s Fudge, entertain visitors.
Because automobiles were banned from the village in 1898, and from the park in 1901, on-island transit is by foot, horse, carriage and bicycle.
—
image credits: mackinacisland.com, originalmurdicksfudge.com, michigan.com
May7
my odyssey with the iliad.
with the absence of my carpool mate
due to the arrival of her newest bambino
i attempted to fill my commute time
with my personal repertoire
of all things musical
every known
genre and format
then
sports rants
in-car karaoke singing
thoughtful npr shows
science
politics
mindless morning shows
when
i remembered
audio books
the iliad
seemed
the perfect candidate
a story
i read under duress
long ago
yet remembered
nothing of
i decided
to give it
a second chance
it was an incredible odyssey for me
filled
with drama
and matched wits
and dialogue
long forgotten
“you are a bitch, unparalleled.”
“i will offer you 3 fine horses and a chariot or a woman who will sleep with you.”
“my wife, the goddess, defies me out of habit.”
not unlike reality tv shows
but much better written
with humor
and grace
and honor
and ego
and pride
and emotion
and death
and rituals
and flashy armor
and sumptuous meals
and lusty sex
and days off from fighting
for celebrations
and memorials
and just for rest
and always
the behind the scenes manipulations
with gods
and mortals
mixing it up
all trying
to find their way
figure out life
win their battles
much like the rest of us
and
i grew to love the story
all fourteen discs of it
through
rain
dark
sunrises
traffic jams
accidents
highway miles
sunsets
high winds
i looked forward to it
every day
as i began to understand
who all the
‘son of, maker of, and those whose names all ended with the letter s’
characters were
how they were connected
when it all ended
i was left wanting more
and
if only
homer had
written another
epic poem
he could have called it
“the odyssey”
oh, he did.
and
i can’t wait.
the journey has been incredible from its beginning.
– sidney poitier
Feb16
americans kick off the week with a day off. some of us.
here’s the most amazing thing you’ll ever read about our 10th president:
john tyler was born in 1790.
he took office in 1841, after william henry harrison died.
and he has two living grandchildren.
not great-great-great-grandchildren.
their dad was tyler’s son.
HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
the tyler men have a habit of having kids very late in life.
lyon gardiner tyler, one of president tyler’s 15 kids, was born in 1853.
he fathered lyon gardiner tyler jr. in 1924, and harrison ruffin tyler in 1928.
harrison tyler has been interviewed in the last few years for new york magazine.
lyon tyler spoke to the daughters of the american revolution a while back.
it’s all in the math.
his living legacy continues.
—
credits: j.english, mentalflossmagazine, google images
Dec4
feeling young.
at 4,841 years old, this ancient bristlecone pine
is the oldest known non-clonal organism on earth.
located in the white mountains of california,
in inyo national forest.
—
credit: earthporn.com
Mar26
To be able to look back upon one’s past life with satisfaction is to live twice. – Lord Acton
freda kelly was just a shy teenager from liverpool who left school at 16 to make her way in the world. in this documentary, freda tells her story for the first time after 50 years, for very personal reasons all her own. it is the story of a young girl, who, through fate and circumstance, found herself working for a local band, the beatles, hoping to make it big. while none of them had any concept of how far they would go, it was her undying loyalty and dedication that kept her in their inner circle, a rare thing among the many who came and went from their universe.
at only 16, she became their devoted personal secretary and fan club president, and she understood the young girls’ frenzy them as they grew in fame, as she was herself just a young girl, as well as a fan. she was fiercely protective of each of them and never was swayed by the fame and fortune that came along. Freda saw it all, and became a sister and friend to them, and a daughter to their families.
she witnessed their evolution to international fame and watched history unfold before her eyes, taking it all in with amazement and pride.
it was her dream job, and she was there at the beginning, and there at the end. and as was said, ‘they were together for 10 years, and she worked for them for 11 years.’ the archival footage in this film is amazing, and if you are a fan of the beatles, music history, or just of the pure and sweet side of human nature, you will fall in love with freda and with this movie.
freda today, as she tells her story, with a few tears and a lot of laughter.
You learn from a conglomeration of the incredible past –
whatever experience gotten in any way whatsoever.
Bob Dylan
—-
image credits: magnolia pictures, the guardian.com,dailymail.co.uk,scope features,sxsw film festival
Nov26
family tree-oh!
photo i love of my great great grandfather (right), his ‘man friday’ (left), and an unaccounted for cousin of some sort (center). taken in glasgow, scotland many years ago. wondering what the story of this photo is, and which of the 3 i most resemble?
“Why waste your time and money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your opponents will do it for you!” —Mark Twain
“The family. We were a strange little band of characters drudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms … and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.” —Erma Bombeck
Nov12
perspective
i followed two 4-year olds at the back of the line, as my class made their way down the school hallway. one was crying. the other reached over, took his hand, and walked with him silently for a minute. the crying continued. the hand-holder decided to take a different approach and share his own tale of woe to make his friend feel better. “hey, when i was a baby, my mom never even played with me. she just wanted to stay in her room with the door closed and watch t.v.,” he told him. (how does he know this? how sad, and it really explains a lot, i thought to myself.) the other little guy stopped crying and they continued on in silence once again, hands swinging.
|
If you think you have it tough, read history books. – Bill Maher |
Aug30
real buildings half curves
i love this building, stuck right in the heart of our bustling and modern downtown. each and every time i walk by, i am drawn in once again, as i encounter its beauty, and especially its ‘and a half’ address. each time, i feel as mesmerized by it as i felt the first time i ever laid eyes on it.
a historic house known as ‘the shant’, (officially called “the hall of omicron”), it now serves as a meeting place for the university of michigan chapter of the delta kappa epsilon (DKE) fraternity, as well as the headquarters for the international fraternal organization and the gerald ford library.
architect william lebaron jenney, later known as the ‘father of the american skyscraper,’ designed the building. jenney came to ann arbor as a professor to found the architecture program at the university of michigan. the library is named after gerald ford, one of five presidents who were members of DKE. it houses books that were written by or about DKE brothers as well as memorabilia.
according to A Century and a Half of DKE, a history of the fraternity, (founded in 1855, 10 years after the first frats came to the university of michigan), the building was used only for fraternity ritual in its early years. the cornerstone was laid in 1878 and construction was completed the following year. an exterior eight-foot high brick wall was added in 1901, increasing the building’s mysterious appearance. it was used only for late night meetings, the gas-lit interior enhancing the building’s eeriness. today, the building still sticks out as somewhat eerie, especially in comparison with its new surroundings.
i like to imagine the secret late-night meetings, the rituals, the ghosts of times past, that still inhabit this special ‘half’ place, caught somewhere in between the past and the present.
————-
‘my address is like my shoes. it travels with me.’ – mary harris jones
I didn't have my glasses on.... 