If not for our ears, we might all be wearing a pince-nez Every once in a long while I get a flash of insight. It happened again yesterday morning as I was putting my glasses on and glanced over at our cat. As I slipped the eyeglass “temples” – the supports that extend along the […]
Wine Country It’s now been almost two months since the outbreak of the fires that wrought havoc in Sonoma and Napa counties – and, especially, in Santa Rosa. Plenty of ink has been spilled on articles and photos documenting the destruction. If you, the reader, are not from this area and would like an […]
https://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_0015.jpg32642448Howard Danielhttps://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/logo.pngHoward Daniel2017-11-26 16:00:532018-06-24 19:14:17California Wine Country: Still Open for Business
I’d been considering re-posting the blog item I wrote last year at this time, My Most Memorable Thanksgiving, when I recalled another unconventional celebration of this wonderful holiday from my boyhood. I was perhaps 6 or 7 at the time, and my parents were going to do something unusual for the four-day weekend. They decided […]
The defining moment of the October Revolution, as Soviet propaganda wished the world to see it. Like so much else in the Soviet version of history, it is a false picture. As a student of Russia, I find it impossible to ignore the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, which took place this past Tuesday, […]
Sandra on Oahu’s North Shore Today is the birthday of my life’s companion, Sandra Kelley. It brings to mind the most memorable surprise party I can recall – Sandra’s 50th, in 1996. As it happened, November 5 fell on Election Day that year, which presented a great party theme. The trick, for me, as Conspirator-in-Chief, […]
Dry Run Church, Fort Valley, Virginia, with western ridge of Massanutten Mountain in background During our recent trip east to visit with kids and grandkids and attend my 55th high school reunion, Sandra and I had a free day and drove to Fort Valley, one of my favorite places in the Appalachians, about an hour […]
https://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Dry-Run-Church.jpg24483264Howard Danielhttps://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/logo.pngHoward Daniel2017-10-29 06:19:122018-06-24 19:14:41A Secret Place With a Delightful Surprise – Fort Valley
Burned-out ruins of Cricklewood restaurant (see below) For us, it all began with a 3 a.m. text message from our daughter Melissa. Actually, it was about 6 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 9, where Sandra and I were, but 3 o’clock in California, where Melissa was. She, her husband Julian, daughter Amarie and two dogs had […]
That’s me – the kid with his hand on the pile of books – as a freshman at Asbury Park High School in 1958. Yesterday, I attended the 55th reunion of my Asbury Park (N.J.) High School class of 1962. It prompts me to write this week about my coolest extracurricular involvement there: with our […]
https://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/HD-2-APHS-1958-59.jpg547851Howard Danielhttps://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/logo.pngHoward Daniel2017-10-15 12:00:492017-10-15 13:42:5155 Years and Counting
George Orwell, author of 1984 and, among much else, an essay, “Politics and the English language,” which includes six rules of writing (see below) Here’s a use of a word I believe good writers should always avoid: reference when the simple verb refer is what’s really meant. Reference is a perfectly good noun: The professor […]
CHI Summer Abroad participant with Kenyan students at the CHI Academy outside Nairobi A few weeks ago I attended a fundraising breakfast for Children’s Humanitarian International (CHI), a Sonoma County charitable organization for which I’ve been providing a good deal of writing and editing assistance over the past several years. CHI is the creation of […]
The Fortuitous Evolutionary Design of Human Ears
/0 Comments/in Humor, Thoughts /by Howard DanielIf not for our ears, we might all be wearing a pince-nez Every once in a long while I get a flash of insight. It happened again yesterday morning as I was putting my glasses on and glanced over at our cat. As I slipped the eyeglass “temples” – the supports that extend along the […]
California Wine Country: Still Open for Business
/0 Comments/in North Bay, Places I've lived, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, Travel /by Howard DanielWine Country It’s now been almost two months since the outbreak of the fires that wrought havoc in Sonoma and Napa counties – and, especially, in Santa Rosa. Plenty of ink has been spilled on articles and photos documenting the destruction. If you, the reader, are not from this area and would like an […]
Another Memorable Thanksgiving
/0 Comments/in Holidays, Humor, Places I've lived, Recollections /by Howard DanielI’d been considering re-posting the blog item I wrote last year at this time, My Most Memorable Thanksgiving, when I recalled another unconventional celebration of this wonderful holiday from my boyhood. I was perhaps 6 or 7 at the time, and my parents were going to do something unusual for the four-day weekend. They decided […]
Bolshevik Revolution – A Somber Centenary
/6 Comments/in History, Places I've lived, Recollections, Thoughts /by Howard DanielThe defining moment of the October Revolution, as Soviet propaganda wished the world to see it. Like so much else in the Soviet version of history, it is a false picture. As a student of Russia, I find it impossible to ignore the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, which took place this past Tuesday, […]
Choose the Flooze
/0 Comments/in Hawaii, Places I've lived, Recollections /by Howard DanielSandra on Oahu’s North Shore Today is the birthday of my life’s companion, Sandra Kelley. It brings to mind the most memorable surprise party I can recall – Sandra’s 50th, in 1996. As it happened, November 5 fell on Election Day that year, which presented a great party theme. The trick, for me, as Conspirator-in-Chief, […]
A Secret Place With a Delightful Surprise – Fort Valley
/0 Comments/in Places I've lived, Recollections, Travel /by Howard DanielDry Run Church, Fort Valley, Virginia, with western ridge of Massanutten Mountain in background During our recent trip east to visit with kids and grandkids and attend my 55th high school reunion, Sandra and I had a free day and drove to Fort Valley, one of my favorite places in the Appalachians, about an hour […]
Santa Rosa Firestorm
/2 Comments/in North Bay, Places I've lived, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County /by Howard DanielBurned-out ruins of Cricklewood restaurant (see below) For us, it all began with a 3 a.m. text message from our daughter Melissa. Actually, it was about 6 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 9, where Sandra and I were, but 3 o’clock in California, where Melissa was. She, her husband Julian, daughter Amarie and two dogs had […]
55 Years and Counting
/6 Comments/in Places I've lived, Recollections, Writing & editing /by Howard DanielThat’s me – the kid with his hand on the pile of books – as a freshman at Asbury Park High School in 1958. Yesterday, I attended the 55th reunion of my Asbury Park (N.J.) High School class of 1962. It prompts me to write this week about my coolest extracurricular involvement there: with our […]
‘Reference’ vs. ‘Refer’
/0 Comments/in Language, Writing & editing /by Howard DanielGeorge Orwell, author of 1984 and, among much else, an essay, “Politics and the English language,” which includes six rules of writing (see below) Here’s a use of a word I believe good writers should always avoid: reference when the simple verb refer is what’s really meant. Reference is a perfectly good noun: The professor […]
Culture Shock
/0 Comments/in North Bay, Places I've lived, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County /by Howard DanielCHI Summer Abroad participant with Kenyan students at the CHI Academy outside Nairobi A few weeks ago I attended a fundraising breakfast for Children’s Humanitarian International (CHI), a Sonoma County charitable organization for which I’ve been providing a good deal of writing and editing assistance over the past several years. CHI is the creation of […]