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Monthly Archives: February 2023
Women in Stories
I was planning to write my Weekend Editions post (I’m late, I know) about the novellas pictured above, Small Things Like These and Foster, both by Claire Keegan. Then I saw the film Women Talking and also read the novel … Continue reading
Keep Calm and Eat Pączki
If you live in the Cleveland area, chances are you’ve heard of pączki (pronounced poonch-kee), fried Polish pastries filled with jam or custard. Pączki means “package,” or, more precisely, “packages,” because pączki is plural. Pączek is the singular form. Cleveland … Continue reading
Roxie Treats
It all started with a Sam’s Club dog biscuit mix, a Christmas gift from my sister Betsey. She knows that I like my dog and I like baking. Because February 17th is the anniversary of Roxie having been blown into … Continue reading
Cast Down in Hadestown
Should I care how Anäis Mitchell, creator of the musical Hadestown, adapts Greek myths to suit her purposes? I shouldn’t. Myths provide us with archetypal stories and characters, constantly shaped and reinterpreted over the centuries. For example, beautiful Helen, the … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Uncategorized, Weekend Editions
Tagged Aeneid, Anäis Mitchell, Eurydice, Hades, Hadestown, Helen of Troy, Iliad, Orpheus, Persephone
2 Comments
February, St. Valentine, and Goat Skins
The Roman priests called Luperci celebrated the Lupercalia, a fertility and purification festival on February 15 by striking women with goatskin strips called februa. This word gives us the name of our shortest month, as well as its odd spelling … Continue reading
Sumpsimus, Mumpsimus
Another book bites the dust. I check out Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages by Ammon Shea with high hopes. It seems to have everything. It is about words (I like words), and it is funny (I … Continue reading
Nickname History
What does the word tawdry have in common with the name Ned? Care to hazard a guess? Ned is, in a way, a misunderstanding. According to folk etymology, the name derives from the common usage of Mine Edward as an … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Wednesday Word
Tagged Ely, George Santos, Mitt Romney, Saint Audrey
9 Comments
Only Connect
Governor Ron DeSantis’s website includes a page devoted to his proposed Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (W.O.K.E.) Act. Florida’s tax dollars are paying for courses that make kids hate America, he says. Critical race theory has invaded … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Teaching, Uncategorized, Weekend Editions
Tagged Emmett Till, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall
6 Comments
A Casual Post
Gum-chewing drives some people to distraction, while split infinitives irritate others. One idiosyncratic bee in my own bonnet is the meaning of casualties. I’ve even taken a stand on the issue. Some years ago, I wrote a letter to National … Continue reading