Uncategorized
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Clowning Around
It’s confusing, being an “Italian American” visiting the homeland for the first time. The culinary staples of your childhood are only available in the most touristy trattorie, and it’s honestly difficult to find that superlative meal you were promised. You… Continue reading
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Have Etymology—Will Travel
Freelancer is a word with a clear medieval connotation—has lance, will travel—but subtly different from a knight-errant, which suggests the temporary wandering associated with a noble quest. A freelancer is a knight for hire. Its semantic range cannot now be separated… Continue reading
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We Will All Go Together When We Go
In 1973, Thomas Andrew Lehrer quit comedy because “political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize.” Those born after Lehrer’s retirement are likely to be familiar with him because he once sang the periodic table of elements to… Continue reading
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Will History Judge?
There’s a lot of outrage going around these days. With all the shouting heads on cable news and algorithmically encouraged doomscrolling on social media, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment. Outrage sells—or at least it gets people… Continue reading
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Huzzah for the King!
Everyone assumes that I must despise a Renaissance faire. You know, those things where a bunch of people go into a ramshackle pseudotown in the forest somewhere to dress in a variety of historical or fantasy clothes, guzzle mead, and… Continue reading
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The Unselfish Ruler
The story of the life of the first and only emperor of the United States, Joshua Abraham Norton, seems quintessentially American. Born to a middle-class Jewish family in England, Norton came to the United States around 1845 from South Africa… Continue reading
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Incomplete Paperwork
At first glance, a document in box 108 H 17 from the Archives départementales de la Haute-Garrone in Toulouse, France, is as boring as its name suggests. An eight-by-five-inch parchment with 21 lines of Latin text written in a neat… Continue reading
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My Libraries
Do you have a third place? Coined by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book, The Great Good Place, a third place is one where people can regularly relax, talk, and socialize outside the “first place” (home) and “second place”… Continue reading
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City Stratigraphy
Wedged between the National Mall and the Potomac River, the Washington, DC, Waterfront is not yet a city again. It has the bustle, the nightlife, the commotion and vibrancy of a city, but it lacks the sense that it is… Continue reading
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Dreaming Cities
One unexpected outcome of the COVID-19 lockdowns is that cities were suddenly quiet. It’s cars that make them noisy, it turns out. Unable to socialize indoors, city dwellers began exploring the urban outdoors and found them enjoyable, much to their… Continue reading
MapperMundi 