Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, April 12
through
Saturday, April 18
It’s Saturday, April 18
Welcome to the 742nd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865,
This picture is a 4-by-3-inch (102 mm × 76 mm) glass-slide illustration of Lincoln's assassination, designed for projection in a magic lantern and dating from around 1900.
From left to right, the figures depicted are Booth, President Lincoln, Mary Lincoln, Harris and Rathbone.
Illustration credit: unknown, after T. M. McAllister; restored by Adam Cuerden
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2.0 Commentary
Twisting the faucet to open.
Seems a bit premature to talk specific dates.
Testing still not easily available.
Supply of essential products like facemasks and antiseptic sprays has yet to catch up to demand.
But not premature to start a discussion of which businesses.
And guides, parameters.
Vetting.
All ideas welcome into the debate.
So many decisions.
Errors inevitable.
The prospect of errors should warn us to be careful,
but not mesmerize us into inaction.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
Weak people revenge.
Strong people forgive.
Intelligent People Ignore.
~Albert Einstein
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from our movie critic and Microsoft’s Prudential Store assistant manager, Tucker J:
Hey Dom,
I wanted to write you real quick and tell you that this morning at our remote morning meeting we were talking about you and your regular status in our store.
You've made your own impact on nearly every person in our store and all of the work from home people at a different little story for you. I'm sorry I don't have a recording of it haha but I wanted you to know that we all spent a chunk of our meeting talking about you and others who we see regularly that we all miss.
It was like a funeral in a weird way. Thankfully not as final but it was really heartwarming to see how you've touched so many lives just by saying hello every day.
Certainly a nice bi-product of quarantine.
Be well
Tucker
Blog Meister responds: Thank you.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Thursday night I had lamb with black beans.
Not a complex recipe.
Simmered 1 cup dry beans for an hour in equal parts water, chicken stock, and white wine, and added small chunks of celery, carrots, red bell, fresno, fresh tomato.
Had the lamb from a roast earlier in the week and chunked that and added it to beans.
Cumin, curry, salt. Fresh parsley.
Simmered until beans were done.
Added liquid as needed.
Served with crusty bread.
Opulent.
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11.0 Thumbnails
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Shot in the head as he watched the play, Lincoln died the following day at 7:22 am, in the Petersen House opposite the theater.
He was the first U.S. president to be assassinated, with his funeral and burial marking an extended period of national mourning.
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, was part of a larger conspiracy by John Wilkes Booth intended to revive the Confederate cause by eliminating the three most important officials of the United States government.
Also present in the box, as guests of the president and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, were Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris.
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It’s Friday, April 17
Welcome to the 741st consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Rendition of the Second Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, second day (October 4, 1862), during the American Civil War.
Hand-colored lithograph by Currier and Ives, 1862.
Minor cropping and color correction by Hal Jespersen. Source: Library of Congress
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2.0 Commentary
After an hour and a quarter socially-distanced walk with Joanna and Grace proved successful,
we’ve signed up for another, on Saturday coming.
Our walk, marked by almost non-stop laughter, caught us up with each other over a walking-cup of Thinking Cup coffee-to-go.
We look forward to more of it on Saturday.
Feels like a Saturday.
But it’s Thursday.
Saturdays traditionally are days without the same fixed routine as a weekday.
When we are working.
Not working.
Feels like a Saturday.
But It’s Thursday.
Within the safety framework, I side with the more aggressive approach to return to normal.
Safety including easily accessible testing for all.
Easily available treatment for all.
I’m aware that impatience is my middle name.
Still, across this great land?
Hundreds of millions of people?
So many fertile minds, so many countless applications, I am confident that by the end of April
we will be able to set target dates for the expansion of economic normalcy in additional numbers of applications.
The continued operation of essential businesses already the established beachhead which is incumbent on us to expand.
Not helter-skelter, but methodically.
Under guidelines.
Carefully watched.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
The difference between stupidity and genius is that
genius has its limits.
~Albert Einstein
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
Sally C sent an email that the blogger felt was too political for this blog and
Blog Meister responded:
Well put, my dear, but
i will not publish it for fear it will take the blog into a political forum i don’t wish to develop.
If something I wrote stepped in that direction: a mistake from which i will withdraw.
Sally C responded:
Another thought: I just realized that although my comments are not particularly political, certainly not inflammatory, others might construe them to have a political bent and find that a reason to (try to) drag the conversation in that direction. It's a lot of work to be the moderator as well as manufacturer of a blog, isn't it? To anticipate the potential reactions of your readers to any other reader's comments? Tricky juggling act! You've done phenomenally well with it so far; I have no doubts you'll continue in this vein.
Besides all that, it's your blog, and you can post what you choose. 😁
Sally
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Yesterday I made a hamburger.
I overcooked it.
The bun got very soggy and fell apart.
It was okay.
Next time, I will correct both mistakes.
I bought a hamburger press to make me independent of the butcher.
Maybe want to combine meats.
Maybe want to season the burger before cooking.
Definitely want to change the bread: a ciabatta will work.
Who sells that?
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11.0 Thumbnails
The second Battle of Corinth (which, in the context of the American Civil War, is usually referred to as the Battle of Corinth, to differentiate it from the siege of Corinth earlier the same year) was fought October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi.
For the second time in the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, Union Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans defeated a Confederate army, this time one under Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn.
After the Battle of Iuka, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price marched his army to meet with Van Dorn's.
The combined force, known as the Army of West Tennessee, was put under the command of the more senior Van Dorn.
The army moved in the direction of Corinth, a critical rail junction in northern Mississippi, hoping to disrupt Union lines of communications and then sweep into Middle Tennessee.
The fighting began on October 3 as the Confederates pushed the U.S. Army from the rifle pits originally constructed by the Confederates for the siege of Corinth.
The Confederates exploited a gap in the Union line and continued to press the Union troops until they fell back to an inner line of fortifications.
On the second day of battle, the Confederates moved forward to meet heavy Union artillery fire, storming Battery Powell and Battery Robinett, where desperate hand-to-hand fighting occurred.
A brief incursion into the town of Corinth was repulsed.
After a U.S. counterattack recaptured Battery Powell, Van Dorn ordered a general retreat.
Rosecrans did not pursue immediately and the Confederates escaped destruction.
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It’s Thursday, April 16
Welcome to the 740th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
French Viognier wine from the Condrieu region of Northern Rhone
Agne27 - Own work
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2.0 Commentary
Gov. Baker of Massachusetts projects the perfect image of a strong, in-charge leader in a time when we need such people.
Love that the discussion as to How To and When to return the country to productivity has begun.
We will rail at each other but in the end will muddle through with compromise and ill-feelings.
And permanent changes to our behavior.
Had a terrific roommates’ time over dinner Tuesday night, a takeout meal from Fins, on Cambridge Street.
Drank a delicious Rhone Valley Condrieu.
The conversation flowed.
Tuesday, my dear friend, Joanna, and my sweetheart, Grace joined me on my mid-day walk, social-distancing, of course.
We took coffees to go from Thinking Cup on Newbury Street and walked the Public Garden.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
Campaign promises are -
by long democratic tradition -
the least binding form of human commitment.
~Antonin Scalia
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
Sally C responding to the enjoyment of hearing positive news re: corona-virus.
Dear Dom,
I can say with all honesty that 24/7 virus coverage got old several weeks ago, and I'd rather read almost anything else. Even the reruns on TV are hauling out any and all of the epidemic-themed episodes that they can find in their archives. ("Oh, you're drowning in a flood? Well, here, have some more water!")
Huzzah for books! I can choose to read about Nevil Shute, about America's greatest bridge builders, a study guide on reading and writing, a collection of E. L. Doctorow's short stories - the world is my [literary] oyster!
😁
Sally
Blog Meister responds: I agree. The long days of isolation have tripled the time I spend reading.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Never made hamburger at home.
But I am desiring one and saw a beauty at Eataly.
If they have any this morning when I go to the Pru I’ll buy one.
With a roll.
And a tomato.
I have a red onion.
I have blue cheese for a topping.
Can’t wait.
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11.0 Thumbnails
Condrieu is a French wine-growing Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) located in the northern Rhône, near Vienne and to the south of the Côte-Rôtie AOC.
The vineyards are situated in the seven communes of Limony, Chavanay, Malleval, Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, Saint-Pierre-de Boeuf, Vérin, and Condrieu.
These communes are in the French departments of Ardèche, Rhône and Loire on the steep slopes of the foothills of the Massif Central on the right bank of the Rhône.
The four southernmost communes can also produce wine under the Saint-Joseph AOC.
The wines made in this AOC are exclusively white, from the Viognier grape, which may have originated in the region.
Within Condrieu is the enclave AOC of Château-Grillet, producing wines that are also 100% Viognier.
The Condrieu AOC was officially created in 1940.
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It’s Wednesday, April 15
Welcome to the 739th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Boston Marathon bombing
Spectators helping victims soon after the attack.
Aaron Tang - https://www.flickr.com/photos/hahatango/8652829335/sizes/o/in/set-72157633252445135/
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2.0 Commentary
Watched TV last night, fascinated by the ads.
Very simply created, but like superbowl ads,
written for the moment.
Some of the topics:
working at home,
exercising,
praise for first responders and other heroes,
symptoms to watch for,
takeout,
adjusting to working at home.
The topics kept me watching the ads.
In early March we wrote here that
best guess:
End of April we would have a good idea of when our economy can reopen.
Instead, the President is touting May 1 as the actual opening of the economy.
Without a developed plan?
A ‘how to’ made public to be vetted, tweaked, discussed?
A lot of bravado without a lot of basis.
Personal preference for early reopenings?
Cafes and restaurants, sit-down only.
These food establishments can easily be controlled.
Guidelines for staff can be put into in place, including masks and food handling.
Occupancy limited to a certain percentage of seats (say, 40% to start) or a per person square footage dining room space.
What are we going to do about bars?
Same as restaurants: no standing. And seating limited to the per person square footage space as set for restaurants.
Just talking. Wishing.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
Bear in mind that brains and learning, like muscle and physical skill, are articles of commerce. They are bought and sold. You can hire them by the year or by the hour. The only thing in the world not for sale is character.
~Antonin Scalia
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
Tucker J sent this response after using the Slow-Roast recipe in the blog:
Your method worked like a charm! We all ate like royalty last night thanks to you!
Blog Meister responded: Makes me smile, thanks. Just made a leg of lamb [on sale @ W Foods]
following same process: 30min/pound slow-roast then 7.5 min on each side under broiler. So good!
And Tucker J responded: That sounds astoundingly good! Maybe I'll do the same. It's been far too long since I've had lamb so if I return to it I'm glad I have a recipe that guarantees it will be top notch.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
I used the leftover lamb as another meal, a delicious roast lamb sandwich.
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11.0 Thumbnails
During the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, two homemade pressure cooker bombs detonated 14 seconds and 210 yards apart at 2:49 p.m., near the finish line of the race, killing 3 people and injuring several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs.
Three days later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released images of two suspects, who were later identified as Chechen Kyrgyzstani-American brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
They killed an MIT policeman, kidnapped a man in his car, and had a shootout with the police in nearby Watertown, during which two officers were severely injured, one of whom died a year later.
Tamerlan was shot several times, and his brother Dzhokhar ran him over while escaping in the stolen car; Tamerlan died soon after.
An unprecedented manhunt for Dzhokhar ensued on April 19, with thousands of law enforcement officers searching a 20-block area of Watertown; residents of Watertown and surrounding communities were asked to stay indoors, and the transportation system and most businesses and public places closed.
Around 6:00 p.m., a Watertown resident discovered Dzhokhar hiding in a boat in his backyard.
He was shot and wounded by police before being taken into custody.
During questioning, Dzhokhar said that he and his brother were motivated by extremist Islamist beliefs and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that they were self-radicalized and unconnected to any outside terrorist groups, and that he was following his brother's lead.
He said they learned to build explosive devices from the online magazine of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
He also said they had intended to travel to New York City to bomb Times Square.
On April 8, 2015, he was convicted of 30 charges, including use of a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property resulting in death.
Two months later, he was sentenced to death.
The appeals process for death row inmates often takes years, after which, if his sentence is not overturned, he will die by lethal injection.
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It’s Tuesday,
Welcome to the 738th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
View from the overlook at the top of the dunes trail portion of Hellcat Swamp Trail
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1942 primarily to provide feeding, resting, and nesting habitats for migratory birds. Located along the Atlantic Flyway, the refuge is of vital stopover significance to waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds during migratory periods.
Besides providing habitat for birds and wildlife, this pristine coastal habitat is also enjoyed by visitors who come to swim, hike, surf, fish, and birdwatch.
Botteville - Own work
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2.0 Commentary
Not only are we stuck at home, today (Monday) we had
real stay-at-home weather.
But I am not to be intimidated.
At 10.45 am I shall step outside into the loneliness of the
the city’s stay-a-home and
take the T to take my walk.
I’ll buy more ingredients for our basic lentils recipe,
get some cash,
enjoy a cup of Thinking Cup coffee, and
return home soaked.
Taking jeans off is always a chore.
Taking wet jeans off can be painful.
But what a great release when the job is done;
when the 20lbs of rain-soak fall heavily to the floor and
we are liberated.
And half-naked.
Time for casual sofa pants.
How long before dinner?
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is.
~Albert Camus
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
I had forgotten how much I like roast lamb.
Took a slice of the leftover for breakfast.
Yum.
And today I’m going to have a lamb sandwich for dinner with
a bowl of Lentil Soup made by adding a cup of my chicken stock to the
basic lentil recipe I made yesterday, and
a sprinkling of soup pasta cooked in the chicken stock.
Served with a gin and tonic.
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11.0 Thumbnails
The refuge includes the mouth of the Parker River, which drains the mainland on the other side of Plum Island Sound.
The refuge also includes the southern three-quarters of Plum Island, an 8-mile (13 km) long barrier island in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Newbury, Massachusetts, Rowley, Massachusetts and Ipswich, Massachusetts.
The southern tip of the island, however, is divided between Sandy Point State Reservation and privately owned Cross Farm.
Trails and observation stations are scattered throughout the refuge.
Included in the refuge is Plum Island Sound and all the smaller islands within it, and the mouth of the Plum Island River on the Plum Island Sound side only.
The marsh in and around the winding channels of the rivers is known as Great Marsh, which has a much greater area than the refuge.
Hiking, jogging and cycling along Plum Island Drive only is permitted any time the refuge is open.
Photography is permitted from any location open to the public.
Beach locations may be visited over boardwalks out of nesting season.
Trailers and licensed fishing are permitted on the beach in the autumn.
Access is via roads through the dunes.
Licensed deer hunting is permitted for one day of the year up to a maximum limit of kills.
The process is controlled by the park employees and volunteers.
Seasonal licensed commercial shell-fishing is permitted at one location where a stream through the marsh bends close to the island.
Licensed seasonal wildfowl hunting is permitted in a special area on the right bank of the Parker River. It must be accessed from the mainland side.
New visitor facilities offering exhibits and programs are located on the mainland bordering Plum Island Airport.
Any other activities within the refuge are strictly forbidden; the brochure presents a long list.
The refuge consists of 4,662 acres (18.87 km2) of diverse habitats including sandy beach and dune, shrub/thicket, bog, swamp, freshwater marsh, saltwater marsh and associated creek, river, mudflat, and newly created salt pannes. These and other refuge habitats support varied and abundant populations of resident and migratory wildlife including more than 300 species of birds and additional species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and plants.
The ecology of the island, however, is not in its original state, due to earlier draining of Great Marsh by parallel channels and destabilization of the dunes by overuse.
Much of the inland side of the island was cleared for farming.
The farmers also used the marsh grass for haying and pasturing animals.
In the waters, the chemical pollution of the Merrimack River and the damming of its stream at a number of locations totally changed the character of the fish and the bird species that fed on them.
Even today coastal currents from the Merrimack in flood deposit unacceptable levels of debris on the beach, which must be cleaned up.
The beach currently is free of the waste bunker oil common further south.
The creation of the reservation involved the purchase and evacuation of the farmland, the stabilization of the dunes by planting Black Pine, an intrusive Alpine species, and the enhancement of biodiversity by the creation of artificial fresh-water pools on the inland side.
More recently heavy equipment has been brought in to replace the parallel channels with unconnected pools in some places, recreating the original marsh.
Since the prohibition of the public from the beach in the summer, seals from the Atlantic have been basking there.
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It’s Monday,
Welcome to the 737th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
The ducklings are always au courant: here,
responding to the corona virus pandemic.
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2.0 Commentary
Why does Plum island hold such an allure?
Toni-Lee and I discovered it decades ago when we became novice birdwatchers,
a category which, by the way, we never stepped beyond.
Looking up sites fancied by other birdwatchers.
The drive from Boston a mere 50 minutes, for an easily accessible, undemanding National Wildlife Refuge boasting the isolation from the modern world usually reserved for the more remote adventures.
I follow the same rhythm today as we did those many years ago. Once passed the entry gate, I drive slowly on the surface road, looking at the trees for movement while listening for songs, and looking across the marshes for colors and shapes that reveal the presence of avian friends.
While parking is not allowed along the roadway, rangers do not object to a pullover and, using binoculars, examination of a spot for enjoyment and specie identification purposes.
This stop-and-go routine continues for miles, until we reach Hellcat Swamp and a parking.
This area perhaps the highlight, boasting two walks, through a woods and marsh one of them, and,
across the road, through a woods and dunes the other, each walk about 20 minutes, one of them level, the beach walk with a steep, if not too long, ascendancy.
Peaceful and lovely; human.
A different event from the breathtaking, overwhelming experience of the Grand Canyon.
Most often, Hellcat Swamp is the furthest penetration of my trips.
On rare occasions I’ve gone the additional seven slow miles (like 45-minutes additional each way) to the tip of the refuge, a popular destination that, if memory serves, includes swimming.
There are some downsides: all of them bugs.
Up through Memorial Day visits are unmolested.
Post-Memorial Day through Labor Day, you will be attacked,
Aggressively and mercilessly.
In August, the hordes of mosquitoes supplemented by swarms of green-head flies whose stings hurt; hurt.
Partnered with this visit to what is officially called the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge is a walk-through of downtown Newburyport with its small boutique shops and lovely small town feeling.
Perhaps an ice cream a glass of wine, outdoors available, or even a lobster dinner.
And when ready to return home, a short fifty-minute drive back to Boston, perhaps picking up takeout on the drive.
Satisfying: a high percentage of the time spent actually in situ.
Plum Island, alluring.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
Where there is no hope, we must invent it.
~Albert Camus
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This today-invitation to hang out from my dear friend, Joanna E:
To my dear friend,
I hope you had a safe and productive week. My sincere apologies for the long absence; I have not been a good modern-day pen pal this week but I resolve to be better moving forward.
I'm so glad you figured out the silken tofu and risotto, sounds delicious. Is Kat still with staying with you? Is Grace visiting you? It's so wonderful that to have companionship during these trying times. Ana and I have been well over in Roxbury Crossing. Keeping myself busy with reading, running, TV shows, Milo, and the like. I miss you Dom and can't wait to see you in our new world. If you are up for a walk on Monday (6 feet apart of course), please let me know. I would love to see you and I will walk there and back to prevent any contact. Totally understandable if you don't want to venture out of the safety of your apartment, we will be reunited sooner than we know.
All my love,
Joanna
Blog Meister responds: Given the weather, we decided on a Tuesday meet, and decided to invite Joanna’s Ana and my own Grace. We will take the necessary social precautions, wondering,
will our society ever return to those casual encounters we’ve enjoyed prior to covid 19.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Lentils.
Leg of lamb on sale, I bought a 2.5lb roast.
Lamb reminds me of beans, I think because
Beans respond well to garlic and lamb fat.
Given Grace’ addiction to the vegan life I needed to produce a plate of vegan lentils,
such a dish being easily converted to something appealing to meat-eaters.
The essence of lentils being the broth they’re cooked in.
So create a vegetarian broth that doesn’t taste wimpy; pathetic.
Easy, really.
A big believer in cooking from a base of aromatics:
1.5 oz each of: celery, scallions, red onions, red bell peppers, and carrots and chili to taste, softened in
2TB sesame oil.
To this pot I added 1TB of gochujang paste and ½ cup fresh parsley.
Then I added 3 cups of water, bringing it to a boil before I added
1 cup of green lentils.
I cooked the lentils on a simmer for 20 minutes and took them off the stove waiting use as a
side to lamb or other main course, as is; or as a base for a stew of meat; or part of a vegetarian dinner; or the essence of a soup.
And not that difficult to prepare.
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11.0 Thumbnails
Walking through the Public Gardens is a lovely experience.
Trees, walkways, flowers, statuary, water, bronze ducklings.
The bronze ducklings, the highlight of the Garden for all toddlers and families, and
for all walkers whose hearts are touched by such obvious joy.
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It’s Sunday,
Welcome to the 736th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Lieut Gen Winfield Scott
This picture of Lieut. Gen. Winfield Scott was made at West Point, N.Y., June 10, 1862.
The subscribers claim that, for correctness of portraiture, finish and detail, it is pre-eminently the best portrait of the Great American Military Chieftain.
Charles D. Fredricks & Company - Heritage Auctions
See 11.0 Thumbnails in this post.
The shape of one of the battles raging as we grapple with the corona virus.
This mail first appeared on Thursday, April 10.
The information herein so timely as to bear a repost so it appears higher up in the blog.
This reprint includes some changes to keep pace with the fast-moving events.
At Childrens Hospital, outpatient clinics are closed except for emergencies and our residents have been sent to cover adult COVID wards. Children's will now take charge of ALL the pediatric patients (COVID or not) from the surrounding hospitals in the greater Boston area to free up those much needed beds for COVID. We're holding off working other ERs as the massive influx of pediatric transfers come in to ensure we can take care of all these kids.
At adult hospitals like MGH, the COVID admits (some of them doctors and nurses) have escalated. Having seen the crisis in NYC, everyone is going above and beyond: Departmental Chiefs are taking Emergency Room shifts, medical students and residents have been graduated early to join the front line, retired doctors are voluntarily coming out of retirement. Every hospital room is being rebuilt to be a negative pressure room (4 days of construction per floor: they are busting their asses as well). Thanks to the Kraft family, doctors and nurses now have N95 masks.
Always at the forefront, Boston has launched the US trials of favipiravir (a promising Japanese anti-viral) as well as nitric oxide and we're currently assessing the true efficacy of chloroquine and azithromycin.
All of this and more is happening at a lightning pace.
Contrast that with the eerily quiet, empty streets of Boston where it's easy to think nothing is happening.
It's happening.
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2.0 Commentary
Delighted that today’s news is replete with
measures of the length of the surge.
Delighted that the sports segment talked about
the incremental reopening of sports events:
to empty stadiums; 10%; 20% full.
Accurate or not, the topics are optimistic.
Delighted.
So I’m nearing the end of the podcast of “Conflicted.”
There is another book to follow but it needs to be co-written.
Co-written because I don’t relish the burden of
writing it alone.
I need a good writer to step up and carry the ball forward.
contact me if interested.
Love that the ‘Conflicted’ podcasts are pushing 100 followers.
That means a manuscript that might have died unread,
Now can boast 100 people who have followed the manuscript.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughs
…there's no question of heroism in all this. It's a matter of common decency. That's an idea which may make some people smile, but the only means of fighting a plague is - common decency.
~Albert Camus
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Tucker J:
Hey Dom,
Looking for your steak recipe
I was thinking about recreating those delicious steaks you've served me in the past for Easter. Do you have that recipe published? I see the london broil one on your blog but i'm not sure it's the same thing.
Blog Meister responds: yes, it's that one:
slow roast the steak for 30 min/pound
then put the searing pan and a drop of oil close to the broiler for 4 min or until dangerously hot
vent the space
set the steak onto the pan and slide the pan close under the broiler
4 min will finish it since it will cook on both sides at once.
yummy
Tucker J:
This is so helpful thank you!
Is there a particular cut of meat I should go into this with?
Blog Meister responds: London Broil an excellent value.
But for flavor and texture, the expensive ‘rib eye’ the ‘best.’
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Last night I made a humungus tuna salad, our recipe.
Was terrific, some of it I stuffed into an Iggy’s baguette.
Yum.
I also made a small batch of clam chowder, two bowls, so
I could satisfy a taste-desire I’ve been experiencing.
It’s a great recipe.
Try it out in our Recipe Blog: look it up the slow way or hit the magnifying glass and type in ‘clam chowder’ and hit ‘enter.’
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy/political story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
Today we post Chapter 26 in which the demon knocks Dee so close to oblivion that Dee utters a litany of apologies, the last to her God, which engenders the sound of a single chime.
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Twitter, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnails
Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786 – May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate.
He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early stages of the American Civil War, and various conflicts with Native Americans.
Scott was the Whig Party's presidential nominee in the 1852 presidential election, but was defeated by Democrat Franklin Pierce.
He was known as Old Fuss and Feathers for his insistence on proper military etiquette, and as the Grand Old Man of the Army for his many years of service.
Scott was born near Petersburg, Virginia, in 1786. After training as a lawyer and brief militia service, he joined the army in 1808 as a captain of the light artillery.
In the War of 1812, Scott served on the Canadian front, taking part in the Battle of Queenston Heights and the Battle of Fort George, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in early 1814.
He served with distinction in the Battle of Chippawa, but was badly wounded in the subsequent Battle of Lundy's Lane.
After the conclusion of the war, Scott was assigned to command army forces in a district containing much of the Northeastern United States, and he and his family made their home near New York City. During the 1830s, Scott negotiated an end to the Black Hawk War, took part in the Second Seminole War and the Creek War of 1836, and presided over the removal of the Cherokee.
Scott also helped to avert war with Britain, defusing tensions arising from the Patriot War and the Aroostook War.
In 1841, Scott became the Commanding General of the United States Army, beating out his rival, Edmund P. Gaines, for the position.
After the outbreak of the Mexican–American War in 1846, Scott initially served as an administrator, but in 1847 he led a campaign against the Mexican capital of Mexico City.
After capturing the port city of Veracruz, he defeated Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna's armies at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, the Battle of Contreras, and the Battle of Churubusco and captured Mexico City.
He maintained order in the Mexican capital and indirectly helped envoy Nicholas Trist negotiate the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which brought an end to the war.
Scott was a candidate for the Whig presidential nomination in 1840, 1844, and 1848, and he finally won the Whig presidential nomination at the 1852 Whig National Convention.
The Whigs were badly divided over the Compromise of 1850, and Pierce won a decisive victory over his former commander.
Nonetheless, Scott remained popular among the public, and in 1855 he received a brevet promotion to the rank of lieutenant general, becoming the first U.S. Army officer to hold that rank since George Washington.
Despite being a Virginia native, Scott stayed loyal to the Union and served as an important adviser to President Abraham Lincoln during the opening stages of the Civil War.
He developed a strategy known as the Anaconda Plan, but retired in late 1861 after Lincoln increasingly relied on General George B. McClellan for military advice and leadership.
Scott's military talent was highly regarded by contemporaries, and historians generally consider him to be one of the most accomplished generals in U.S. history.
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12.0 Diary of the Surrender of a Private Car
So Grace and I are heading to Plum Island today.
Parts of it are still open as far as I can make out.
It’ll be cold but we need a leg stretch.
Point is, I’ll have use of a private car.
If I pay for a tank of gas I’ll still be way ahead of the daily cost of
maintaining my own vehicle.
Point is, is it time for us to start buying communal cars ?
Addressing the questions of use, of need, of affordability.
Can’t two or three of four of us pay for a car and
divide up its use.
What a rich area to develop.