Happy New Year's! How do you like to celebrate New Year's Day? According to Helen Zatterberg's Early Days in Ravenswood, Ravenswood residents in the 1870s and 1880s enjoyed hosting open house parties for their neighbors in the village. The open houses started at 10 a.m. and lasted until late in the evening. The women stayed…
John Reed: Radical Socialist
Reading about radical socialists is fun. I'm a fan of the early 20th century ones, the ones who fell for Russia when they thought it was all a grand rebellion and not just another violent coup. American journalist John Reed was enough of a supporter of Bolshevism he was buried at the Kremlin Wall. People who…
Canada!
I'm not sure why, but a few weeks back, I got the Canadian national anthem stuck in my head, and it got me thinking. I never thought about it before, but Canada's a country. It's not just a punchline to a joke about friendly neighbors or a place where some celebrities come from. It's got…
That’s Swell, Orwell
Whenever people don't like the powers-that-be, which seems to be always, they start reading 1984 again, or maybe Animal Farm for fun, but for my money, George Orwell's best work is his nonfiction, where he offers cutting, observant remarks on authors, politics, his personal life and whatever strikes his fancy. My personal favorite is Homage to…
Let’s Go Crazy
Have you ever wanted to turn your back on everything and take off in such absurd directions that your actions become dangerous and offensive? No? Really? I guess I'm sorry, then. Everyone keeps telling me to stop talking like that, but there are just so many ways to ruin your life in fiction and reality, I'm amazed more…
