I wondered how it was that I had never heard of this book and its extraordinarily promising young author. I asked around, but no one seemed to know or remember Millen Brand, or his books. It’s somewhat frightening to learn that good books – even books heralded in their time – can disappear so quickly […]
Days that feel like older days. Lazy suburban summer drives, windows open, listening to a short story read on the radio. Sitting by the lake for an interminable length of time. Browsing at the bookstore I used to spend so much time in, tripping over the carpet. While my mother looks at religion books, I turn around
Tripping over the carpet Read More »
My husband bought the Hark, a Vagrant! book recently and insisted I read it too. I’m so glad he did. Not only is it great to read funny things from someone who is also mystified by the “sex sells history” trend (and shares my love of early political cartoons), it’s fun to see Canadian history given
“Well now, history is not just the tale of the victors,” he said, “It’s the tale of the privileged. The men in the mud of the battlefield didn’t leave much of a story behind, and the stories they did tell were mostly ignored or forgotten.” – A Desperate Fortune, Susanna Kearsley. Strangely enough, I never really
Pretty much why I love “everyday” history. Read More »
Maybe. Can one quit being a writer? This is a post I’ve wanted to write – and dreaded writing – for a long time. For about as long as I have no longer considered myself a “writer,” at least outside of my freelancing career. How long has that been? It’s hard to say. There wasn’t
Last month, my husband and I spent a couple of weeks visiting family in Finland and Germany. The historical site we were both most excited to see was Turku Castle, in southwest Finland. Turku was the capital of Finland until 1812, when Alexander I, thinking Turku was a little too close to Sweden and too far from
Turku Castle/Turun Linna Read More »
Many buildings outside London had thatched roofs of reed or straw, and in January 1784 Woodforde noted: ‘I rejoiced much this morning on shooting an old wood-pecker, which had teised [teased] me a long time in pulling out the reed from my house. He had been often shot at by me and others…For this last
I kind of feel sorry for the woodpecker. Read More »
We had no such thing as printed newspapers in those days to spread rumours and reports of things . . . but such things as these were gathered from the letters of merchants and others who corresponded abroad, and from them was handed about by word of mouth only; so that things did not spread
“Instantly,” 18th century-style. Read More »
Last year, I found a copy of Mrs Beeton’s Household Management in a secondhand book store, and snapped it up eagerly. It isn’t obvious when it was printed. A previous owner wrote her name and the year 1944, but certain things made me believe this was already a few years old when she got it – for
A Mrs Beeton recipe: Tomatoes, Stuffed, With Mushrooms Read More »
In 2008, my friend Suzen and I started making short video diaries as a way of keeping in touch across the country. I’m clearing out some files from my computer and I found the videos I’d made. Here are some text excerpts that prove no matter how much I think I’ve changed, I’m still very
At least I’m dependable. Read More »
