Category Archives: Life

12 Days of Christmas Songs (#3) – Handel’s Messiah

Merry Christmas! For today’s post, I thought the most appropriate “song” might be Messiah, the most significant musical work ever composed about the life of Christ within the context of Biblical Old Testament prophecies about his birth and Gospels about his life, … Continue reading →

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12 Days of Christmas Songs (#2) – “Have a Merry Merry Merry Merry Christmas”

During my childhood in Ohio in the 1960s, my mom (and grandmother and great-grandmother, for that matter) were fans of Ruth Lyons, a pioneering Cincinnati radio and television personality who began her career in the earliest days of commercial radio in the 1920s. … Continue reading →

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12 Days of Christmas Songs (#1) – “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” is actually the 12-day period beginning on Christmas Day and ending on January 5th (the day before the day the three kings/Magi/wise men visited the Christ child, aka “Epiphany“). So I’m getting started a little early. Backstory: … Continue reading →

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Looking forward versus looking back

Strange how a shift in perspective changes everything. I was walking north with the sun at my back this afternoon when I noticed this interesting pattern of shadow and light reflections on the sidewalk ahead of me.After walking a little farther, I … Continue reading →

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Three Views of the Val. Blatz Brewing Bottle House (MSOE Campus Center)

Light changes the appearance of things, as shown in these photos I took yesterday. What initially caught my eye was the gleam that obliterated detail as sunlight hit the stone tiles above the windows. (Update: I noticed a few days later, … Continue reading →

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The Kindness of Strangers: Lost and Found

Some kind soul found this necklace and placed it in a spot where its owner might be more likely to find it. When my daughter lost her favorite stuffed animal in the grocery store years ago, someone did the same … Continue reading →

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Carved in Stone . . .

. . . is no guarantee of permanence, as you can see. The carpenters’ union apparently found another home, and their building eventually became a place of support for a new group of people.

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Dontre Hamilton: “Rest in Power”

In making the wide circuit back to my office after running an errand on the other side of campus, I decided to swing through Red Arrow Park to pick up a sandwich for lunch at Starbucks. And this is what … Continue reading →

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He came to the fork in the road . . . and took it. RIP, Yogi Berra.

America’s greatest living philosopher is no more. He died yesterday at the age of 90. The New York Times ran a beautiful obit, which you can read here. Yogi Berra the baseball player was phenomenal, one of the very best catchers … Continue reading →

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Better Than Brownies (#tbt)

In the “First Course” column of yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel food section, editor Nancy Stohs ran a story about a brownie recipe from “Miss Petey” that was so popular with readers that it was published several times over the years, its first … Continue reading →

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