Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
Woodrow Wilson
Some historians rate Woodrow Wilson as a near-great president, which always made me curious because he is most remembered for his idealistic League of Nations proposal, which his own country shunned. So my curiosity led me to Wilson, a highly rated biography by A. Scott Berg. The truth is Woodrow Wilson lived a life of
The Joy in New Pajamas
I guess it’s a sign of my advancing age that I can get excited about a pair of pajamas. This weekend I stumbled across a sale, and purchased a pair that I normally would’ve considered too pricey. Not that they were extravagant to begin with, but I must confess to having a cheap streak. This
Original Poetry — My Nemesis
Still getting caught up after Thanksgiving, so here’s a quick poem from the unpublished pile — My Nemesis I don’t know why we didn’t get along. But all through high school he was there. He drew mustaches on my baseball cards. In music class when we were supposed to be singing he harassed me.
When the Wehrmacht and U.S. Army Fought Together During World War II
As a history nerd, I know there are lots of strange stories during wartime. This is right up there with them. On a hill near the village of Itter in Austria sits a small castle that during World War II was seized by the Waffen SS and converted into a prison camp for high-profile prisoners
Original Story — Thanks, Santa!
Since it’s officially the Christmas season, I’m re-posting my Christmas story as my contribution to the holidays. This story is included in my book Stories Short and Strange, available on this website and on Amazon.com in both hardcopy and downloadable formats. Thanks, Santa I guess I shouldn’t complain. I live in a nice house on
Voices From the Past
I can rarely resist a book, especially a book about history. Recently I found an interesting little volume — The Civil War: Voices of Hope, Sacrifice, and Courage, edited by Gordon Leidner. It lists over 220 quotes from soldiers and civilians on both sides, as well as texts and excerpts from some of the war’s
Happy Thanksgiving — “The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven”
Here is a link to my favorite Thanksgiving poem. Unfortunately, I didn’t write it; Jack Prelutsky did. But it’s the kind of poem I wish I could write. http://www.homemakerscorner.com/turkeyshot.htm (Jack Prelutsky began as a folk singer, and has been making words rhyme for over 45 years. Since his first book, A Gopher in the Garden,
What English Owes Native Americans
Recently I read that 26 state names have been derived from Native American speech. I know English is a diverse language, containing words with many different origins, so this did not surprise me. Still, it did pique my curiosity. I did a bit of research and yes, we’ve gotten a bunch of words from Native
Fake News: The Worst Is Yet To Come?
If you’re concerned about fake news, it may only get worse. We’ve already had examples of what clever technology can do — this video appeared on the Internet in May of Donald Trump apparently offering advice to the people of Belgium on climate change. (It looks pretty artificial to me, but many took it seriously.)
More Proof That Solutions Are Out There
Deep down inside, I’ve always believed we can solve all our problems if we’d just work together and innovate. This week’s Time magazine gives me more hope in that regard, with its section on “The 50 Best Inventions of 2018.” After a quick reading, here are some that particularly impressed me — Clothes for every