Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, July 4, 2021
through
Saturday, July 10, 2021
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It’s Saturday, July 10, 2021
Welcome to the 1,154th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Roan Antelope
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2.0 Commentary
The Republican Party is in disarray.
It’s split irrevocably in two.
Not matter which wing wins a nomination, the other wing will not give full support to the nominated candidate.
The moderate conservatives have got to accept that for a time they will lose a lot of elections.
But they must stay the course.
Take the blows.
They will win out and the extreme right crazies will fade out to the extreme fringes where they will no pose the serious threat to democracy and legitimate open debate that they now endanger.
And we will be back to a two-party system.
I’m enjoying The Joy of Luck Club.
Reading and writing on Tuesday and Wednesday took a backseat to a social life. Thursday more of the same: my cousin Lauren and I visited the MFA for the Monet exhibit and then we had dinner together, Roast Pork.
Thursday night Katherine’s boyfriend Will arrived and after dinner he put together a new lamp I bought for the Mistral chair.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“When the line is delivered, Hamlet is gazing on Yorrick's skull, casually unearthed by the gravedigger.
Yorrick's fame grew out of being the line which accompanied what is perhaps the single most recognizable iconic image in literature: a man in black, considering a human skull.
Show some form of that picture to most moderately educated people and plenty who aren't and they'll know that the man is Hamlet.
Such things don't find their way into the popular consciousness by accident and trivial though the line may sound, it speaks to the heart of the play: a man compelled by circumstances outside of his control to confront his own mortality.”
~A.J. Hartley,
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
From a breakfast with my son, Mino. We tried out the new Café at the newly-opened Newbury Hotel. Conversation ran the gamut from lifestyle changes during and post pandemic to current books, movies, and series we are enjoying.
It’s a phenomenon: talking with my son as equals as we discuss the issues surrounding raising children, in particular this night, daughters ages twenty-two and twenty-four. My daughter being his sister and his daughters being my grandchildren.
Blog meister responds: Lots of love and understanding and support make life worth living.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Tuesday evening, two sons, a grandson, and a daughter-in-law enjoyed a post-July 4th get together at Abe and Louis’. The conversation was fast-moving, kind, loving, eye-opening, intimate. The food was very good.
I had the only dish that was poorly executed: overcooked clams casino.
why didn’t I send them back?
mistake on my part.
For dinner, I limited myself to a wedge lettuce salad.
That’s it.
I did indulge in a chocolate sundae that I enjoy so much at Abe and Louis’.
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The roan antelope is a savanna antelope found in western, central, and southern Africa.
The roan antelope is one of the largest species of antelopes; only elands, bongos and large male greater kudus can exceed them in weight. They measure 190–240 cm (75–94 in) from the head to the base of tail and the tail measures 37–48 cm (15–19 in). The body mass of males is 242–300 kg (534–661 lb) and of females is 223–280 kg (492–617 lb). The shoulder of this species is typically around 130–140 cm (51–55 in).[4][5][6] Named for their roan colour (a reddish brown), they have lighter underbellies, white eyebrows and cheeks and black faces, lighter in females. They have short, erect manes, very light beards and prominent red nostrils. The horns are ringed and can reach one metre (3 ft 3 in) long in males, slightly shorter in females. They arch backwards slightly.
They are similar in appearance to the sable antelope and can be confused where their ranges overlap. Sable antelope males are darker, being brownish-black rather than dark brown. Roan antelope are found in woodland and grassland savanna, mainly in the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, which range in tree density from forest with a grassy understory (such as the central Zambezian Miombo woodlands) to grasslands dotted with few trees, where they eat mid-length grasses. They form harem groups of five to 15 animals with a dominant male. Roan antelope commonly fight among themselves for dominance of their herd, brandishing their horns while both animals are on their knees.
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It’s Friday, July 9, 2021
Welcome to the 1,153rd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Roman foot soldiers from the 2nd century BC
Unknown artist - Jastrow (2007)
Sacrifice scene during a census: Right part of a plaque from the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus known as the “Census frieze”. Marble, Roman artwork of the late 2nd century BC. From the Campo Marzio, Rome.
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2.0 Commentary
Focused on keeping my balance among a plethora of visitors and guests, of activities and leisure, and of reading and writing.
The days slip past like shadows.
My blog count keeps rising.
The speed of package deliveries speeds upwards.
Spearheaded by Amazon, no doubt, but across the economy,
Goods are moving faster.
Just saying.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“They do not love that do not show their love.
O, they love least that let men know their love.
(Which camp are you in?)”
~Will Shakespeare
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act I, scene II
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
These two from Colleen G:
Hey Dom,
Thank you again and again for reading my manuscript and chatting with me about it. It really means a lot! If you have any young adults who may be interested in reading it and offering up feedback (like your daughter or granddaughter) I would be happy to hear what they think good or bad.
and a second with a terrific link.
Hi Dom,
I thought it would be a good quick blog post to be grateful for writer friends like yourself. Friends who actually like writing (and reading writing) provide so much fuel for the writers in their lives. So, thanks!
Here's a blog posting in your honor:)
https://www.ctkavanagh.com/deardiary
Stay cool!
Cheers,
Colleen:)
The Room to Write
781-621-3274
www.theroomtowrite.org
Blog meister responds: Colleen is a wonderful writer who understands the sixteen-year-old mind. Reading her work was a pleasure. Invite your teenagers to write for a beta copy. It may become a collector’s otem.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Monday night I had a dry-aged steak in advance of Katherine’s arrival for the next several weeks.
Katherine, newly averse to beef.
The steak was particularly good served with broccoli rabe in garlic-olive oil which acted as a well-chosen sauce for the steak.
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The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest naval war of antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy. The war was fought primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa. After immense losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were defeated.
The war began in 264 BC with the Romans gaining a foothold on Sicily at Messana (modern Messina). The Romans then pressed Syracuse, the only significant independent power on the island, into allying with them and laid siege to Carthage's main base at Akragas. A large Carthaginian army attempted to lift the siege in 262 BC, but was heavily defeated at the Battle of Akragas. The Romans then built a navy to challenge the Carthaginians', and using novel tactics inflicted several defeats. A Carthaginian base on Corsica was seized, but an attack on Sardinia was repulsed; the base on Corsica was then lost. Taking advantage of their naval victories the Romans launched an invasion of North Africa, which the Carthaginians intercepted. At the Battle of Cape Ecnomus the Carthaginians were again beaten; this was possibly the largest naval battle in history by the number of combatants involved. The invasion initially went well and in 255 BC the Carthaginians sued for peace; the proposed terms were so harsh they fought on, defeating the invaders. The Romans sent a fleet to evacuate their survivors and the Carthaginians opposed it at the Battle of Cape Hermaeum off Africa; the Carthaginians were heavily defeated. The Roman fleet, in turn, was devastated by a storm while returning to Italy, losing most of its ships and over 100,000 men.
The war continued, with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage. The Carthaginians attacked and recaptured Akragas in 255 BC, but not believing they could hold the city, they razed and abandoned it. The Romans rapidly rebuilt their fleet, adding 220 new ships, and captured Panormus (modern Palermo) in 254 BC. The next year they lost 150 ships to a storm. In 251 BC the Carthaginians attempted to recapture Panormus, but were defeated in a battle outside the walls. Slowly the Romans had occupied most of Sicily; in 249 BC they besieged the last two Carthaginian strongholds – in the extreme west. They also launched a surprise attack on the Carthaginian fleet, but were defeated at the Battle of Drepana. The Carthaginians followed up their victory and most of the remaining Roman warships were lost at the Battle of Phintias. After several years of stalemate, the Romans rebuilt their fleet again in 243 BC and effectively blockaded the Carthaginian garrisons. Carthage assembled a fleet which attempted to relieve them, but it was destroyed at the Battle of the Aegates Islands in 241 BC, forcing the cut-off Carthaginian troops on Sicily to negotiate for peace.
A treaty was agreed. By its terms Carthage paid large reparations and Sicily was annexed as a Roman province. Henceforth Rome was the leading military power in the western Mediterranean, and increasingly the Mediterranean region as a whole. The immense effort of building 1,000 galleys during the war laid the foundation for Rome's maritime dominance for 600 years. The end of the war sparked a major but unsuccessful revolt within the Carthaginian Empire. The unresolved strategic competition between Rome and Carthage led to the eruption of the Second Punic War in 218 BC.
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It’s Thursday, July 8, 2021
Welcome to the 1,152nd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Jane Margyl
Photographie de la cantatrice Jane Margyl (1874–1907) dans l'opéra Samson et Dalila
Nadar - coll. part.
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2.0 Commentary
Tuesday kicks off a busy social week for me.
On Tuesday, I meet my son Mino for breakfast and sons Mino and Dom for dinner, along with my grandson Dylan and daughter-in-law Amanda.
Late Tuesday night my daughter Katherine arrives from NYC after spending the weekend helping her boyfriend move into their new apartment. She’ll move there in late August.
Thursday my cousin Lauren and I will go to the Monet exhibit at the MFA and then have dinner together.
Thursday, William, Kat’s boyfriend, arrives for the weekend.
It is wonderful seeing Boston’s streets fill up with people out enjoying the weather and the camaraderie.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“The Arden Shakespeare is intended both as a student text and as a revision of traditional scholarship.
If it is to be used in the first way, then the often narrow thread of text above a sediment of footnotes, something Dr Leavis so deplored, can prove debilitating.
Poems, especially the classics of our language, should be read headlong.
Dubieties may be looked up later.”
~Peter Porter
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Sunday afternoon I had lunch at Figs on Charles Street.
They really do make a terrific pizza. It ranks within the smallest circle of great pizza making in the Boston area.
I ordered the simple Margherita, tomatoes, cheese, and basil.
Awesome.
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Jeanne Clémence Floriet (de Margileray) called Jane Margyl (17 July 1874 – 12 August 1907) was a French mezzo-soprano. She began her career as a mime artist at the Folies Bergère starring in several productions. After voice studies, she appeared in operas from 1902, she first appeared at the Paris Opera in 1905 as Dalila in Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns, and took other leading roles there.
Born Jeanne Clémence Floriet in Paris, Margyl made her debut as a mime artist at the Folies Bergère on 10 February 1897, creating the title role in Phryné, a ballet-pantomime by Auguste Germain, with music by Louis Ganne. Critics praised Margyl's talent as well as her beauty, and she played Phryne more than 200 times. In September 1898, she took part there in L'Enlèvement des Sabines, a ballet-pantomime by Adrien Vély and Charles Dutreil, with music by Paul Marcelles, with Odette Valéry, J. Litini and J. Ducastel. On 25 January 1899, she also created the role of Princess Illys in La Princesse au sabbat, a ballet-pantomime by Jean Lorrain, with music by Louis Ganne, alongside Jane Thylda and Odette Valéry. In Poussières de Paris, Lorrain described Margyl trying on her princess costume at the couturier Landolff.
She then undertook voice studies with Jules Chevallier and followed the advice of Alexandre Luigini. She made her debut at the Opéra-Comique on 15 November 1902 as Lola in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, opposite Emma Calvé as Santuzza. In December 1902, she appeared in the small role of Princess Olympe in the world premiere of Reynaldo Hahn's La Carmélite. She resumed her voice studies, and in December 1903, Alexandre Luigini called her to replace Lina Pacary in the title role of Massenet's Hérodiade at the Théâtre de la Gaîté.
Engaged at the Paris Opera on 22 December 1904, she first performed there on 22 September 1905 as Dalila in Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns and achieved great success. She then appeared there on 16 February 1906 as Amneris in Verdi's Aida. On 17 December 1906, she appeared as Fricka in Wagner's Die Walküre.
In the meantime, on 24 April 1906, she took part in creating Le Clown, a musical novel by Victor Capoul, with music by Isaac de Camondo, alongside Geraldine Farrar, Marguerite Mérentié, Rousselière, Renaud and Delmas.
Jane Margyl's grave stone at Cimetière des Batignolles
She died in Deauville from appendicitis at the age of 33, while she was preparing for the roles of Fidès in Meyerbeer's Le Prophète, Ann Boleyn in Henry VIII and Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin. She was buried in Paris at the cimetière des Batignolles (1st division), where a statue by François-Léon Sicard memorializes her, seated and dying, with Euterpe, the classical muse of music, hiding her lyre and her face.
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It’s Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Welcome to the 1,151st consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Sun records
"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" by Jerry Lee Lewis
w:Sun Records - Sun Records. Scanned by Infrogmation (talk) from original in own collection.
Sun 45 rpm record label, with the company logo clearly visible
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2.0 Commentary
One little known effect of the pandemic has been the decimation of the ranks of true baristas. Finding a good cup of Italian coffee was easy: a simple visit to Blue Bottle or the Thinking Cup or Peet’s would virtually guarantee one.
Now? The ranks are depleted and visits to these terrific cafes are no more likely to get you a good coffee as is a visit to Café Nero with its flawed concept that every cashier is a born barista and every young adult is a cashier.
Where have all the baristas gone?
This summer I’ve been experiencing wide swings in energy and pain in my legs. On the sometimes occasions when I feel energetic and have no pain, I feel like celebrating. Aging.
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3.0 Reading and Writing Events
So I finished the first eight pages of my manuscript which deal with our protagonist’s decision to accept recovery. Now I’m going to review Vicky’s comments and make sure that I’ve responded to the other of her ideas.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“Here's one of the problems with communicating in the words of a man who is not around to explain himself: it's damn hard sometimes to tell what he was talking about. Look, the sheer fact that people have banged out book after article after dramatic interpretation of this guy should tell you that despite his eloquence, he wasn't the clearest of communicators.”
~Eleanor Brown
The Weird Sisters
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Some texts from my son Mino and my daughter Katherine and my cousin Lauren over the course of the last thirty-six hours have locked up my schedule from Tuesday morning through Sunday afternoon. And then I’ll need a couple of days catching up on my writing.
Blog meister responds: While I enjoyed the loneliness of the 4th of July weekend, I’m delighted to have the opportunities of personal visits with people I love.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Saturday night I bought a live two-pound lobster and turned it into a delicious Lobster Roll. I used ciabatta bread and indulged in a bag of potato chips.
I published the recipe in this post several days ago.
It’s worth the effort. Dinner was delicious and a welcome change of pace.
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Sam Phillips opened his Memphis Recording Service studio on February 3, 1950 at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis. It was founded with the financial aid of Jim Bulliet, one of many record executives for whom Phillips had scouted artists before 1952.
In March 1951, Phillips produced "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, who were actually Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. Because of Turner's Delta blues connections, he was contracted by Phillips as a talent scout and he was effectively an in-house producer. Turner brought fellow musicians Howlin' Wolf, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Little Milton, Billy "The Kid" Emerson and Roscoe Gordon to record for Phillips.
The success of "Rocket 88" helped fund the creation of Sun Records which Phillips founded in February 1952. Before creating Sun, Phillips licensed recording to Chess Records for release. But by 1952, his relationship with the Chess brothers was strained and he had disputes with the Bihari brothers at Modern Records. Initially, Phillips didn't want to create a record label. He said, "I was forced into it by those labels either coming to Memphis to record or taking my artists elsewhere."
The original Sun Records logo was designed by John Gale Parker Jr., a resident of Memphis and high school classmate of Phillips. Sun Records shared the same building as Sun Studio (formerly Memphis Recording Service). There, Phillips discovered and first recorded such influential musicians such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. Presley's recording contract was eventually sold to RCA Victor Records for $35,000 in 1955 to relieve Sun's financial difficulties. Sun record producer and engineer Jack Clement discovered and recorded Jerry Lee Lewis while Phillips was away on a trip to Florida in 1956.
Some of the other artists who recorded for Sun were Rufus Thomas (who recorded solo and with his daughter Carla Thomas), Tex Weiss, Charlie Rich, Bill Justis, and Conway Twitty (who at that time recorded under his real name, Harold Jenkins). In the Lovin' Spoonful song "Nashville Cats", John Sebastian used poetic license when he referred to Sun as the "Yellow Sun Records from Nashville".
There were also sixteen female recording artists whose records were released on the Sun and Phillips international label. These include Barbara Pittman and the Miller Sisters.
In 1969, Mercury Records label producer Shelby Singleton purchased the Sun label from Phillips. Singleton merged his operations into Sun International Corporation, which re-released and re-packaged compilations of Sun's early artists in the early 1970s. It later introduced rockabilly tribute singer Jimmy "Orion" Ellis in 1979, with Orion taking on the persona of Elvis Presley.
The company remains in business as Sun Entertainment Corporation, and currently licenses its brand and classic hit recordings (many of which have appeared in CD boxed sets and other compilations) to independent reissue labels. Sun Entertainment also includes SSS International Records, Plantation Records, Amazon Records, Red Bird Records, Blue Cat Records among other labels the company acquired over the years. Its website sells collectible items and compact discs bearing the original 1950s Sun logo.
Sun Records is located in Nashville, Tennessee. It has been mainly a reissue label since the 1970s but signed country musician Julie Roberts to a recording contract in 2013.
The music of many Sun Records musicians helped lay part of the foundation of late 20th-century rock and roll and influenced many younger musicians, including the Beatles. In 2001, Paul McCartney appeared on a tribute compilation album titled Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records. The 2008 tribute Million Dollar Quartet is based on the famous photograph of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis grouped round Elvis Presley at the piano, the night when the four joined in an impromp
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It’s Tuesday, July 6, 2021
Welcome to the 1,150th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Ben Franklin
A painting of Benjamin Franklin from 1778
Joseph Duplessis - ZgEyj5EEKdux-g at
Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level
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2.0 Commentary
Three weeks ago today Katherine and I were out walking the downtown when she proposed that we step into Roche Bobois. Just to browse.
We did.
For the last several years I had in mind a reclining chair for myself. Wasn’t actively looking but always browsing. And in the casual step-in, I found the Mistral chair: the treasure at the conclusion of my quest.
I called my friend, Jack Hagan, architect-builder of impeccable taste, to look at the chair and corroborate its appeal.
He did, so I did.
It arrived on Friday morning and it has changed my life.
The chair, at whatever position, cradles my body so comfortably I don’t want to go out.
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3.0 Reading and Writing Events
I may have broken the through the mental barriers thrown up in front of me by the excellent comments of my friend-editor Howard D and my editor, Victoria Dickerson.
Will report further.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“It may take a decade or two before the extent of Shakespeare's collaboration passes from the graduate seminar to the undergraduate lecture, and finally to popular biography, by which time it will be one of those things about Shakespeare that we thought we knew all along.
Right now, though, for those who teach the plays and write about his life, it hasn't been easy abandoning old habits of mind.
I know that I am not alone in struggling to come to terms with how profoundly it alters one's sense of how Shakespeare wrote, especially toward the end of his career when he coauthored half of his last ten plays.
For intermixed with five that he wrote alone, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline, and The Tempest, are Timon of Athens (written with Thomas Middleton), Pericles (written with George Wilkins), and Henry the Eighth, the lost Cardenio, and The Two Noble Kinsmen (all written with John Fletcher).”
~James Shapiro, Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
My daughter Katherine texts that her new apartment, shared with boyfriend William, is spectacular.
Blog meister responds: William found it. One block from Central Park, upper West Side. Well done, William.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday night I enjoyed half-a-rack of baby back ribs. On sale.
Used a simple slow-roast followed by a brief broil close to flame for color.
Brushed on some Gochujang sauce and et it.
Delicious and so easy.
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Benjamin Franklin FRS FRSA FRSE (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A polymath, he was a leading writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, among other inventions. He founded many civic organizations, including the Library Company, Philadelphia's first fire department, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity, initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies. As the first United States ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation. Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment. In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, "In Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat." To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."
Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at the age of 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richard's Almanack, which he authored under the pseudonym "Richard Saunders". After 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the policies of the British Parliament and the Crown.
He pioneered and was the first president of Academy and College of Philadelphia which opened in 1751 and later became the University of Pennsylvania. He organized and was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected president in 1769. Franklin became a national hero in America as an agent for several colonies when he spearheaded an effort in London to have the Parliament of Great Britain repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco–American relations. His efforts proved vital for the American Revolution in securing shipments of crucial munitions from France.
He was promoted to deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies on August 10, 1753, having been Philadelphia postmaster for many years, and this enabled him to set up the first national communications network. During the revolution, he became the first United States postmaster general. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. From 1785 to 1788, he served as governor of Pennsylvania. He initially owned and dealt in slaves but, by the late 1750s, he began arguing against slavery, became an abolitionist, and promoted education and the integration of blacks in American Society.
His life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and his status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored more than two centuries after his death on the fifty-cent piece, the $100 bill, warships, and the names of many towns, counties, educational institutions, and corporations, as well as numerous cultural references and with a portrait in the Oval Office.
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It’s Monday, July 5, 2021
Welcome to the 1,149th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Thomas Jefferson
Portrait of Jefferson in his late 50s with a full head of hair
Rembrandt Peale - https://www.whitehousehistory.org/galleries/presidential-portraits
Cropped portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. Exposure increased and shadows decreased using Photo Editor at https://www.befunky.com/create/.
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2.0 Commentary
I’m not even going to try to reproduce the post I prepared for today.
A most summary presentation will have to do.
I visited the MFA today with the express idea of creating a new rhythm for myself and my writing.
Had a terrific time and finished today’s post.
Somehow, I didn’t save the file [I’ve made thousands of mistakes in the three years of blogging but never this].
Didn’t realize it until the end of the day with little time to recreate.
So here is a post.
Sorry it couldn’t be richer.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“i heard someone tried the monkeys-on-typewriters bit trying for the plays of W. Shakespeare, but all they got was the collected works of Francis Bacon.”
~Bill Hirst
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
I’ve been working on a recipe for a great Lobster Roll, starting, of course, with live lobsters.
LOBSTER ROLL
The Bread:
Ciabatta at w foods or Hot dog roll or English muffin
Brush both sides with melted butter
Toast each side in hot skillet weighted
Buy one 1 ½ lb lobster per person.
Steam them.
Let them cool at room temperature and
serve them the same day you steam them.
Use the bodies as a snack
with this proviso: pull the green lobster tomalley and use it as part of the dressing.
Cut the meat into small chunks.
Choice of Aromatics
cucumber, peeled, seeded, finely diced
celery, finely diced
scallions, thinly sliced
½ only hard boiled egg, chopped fine
Toss the aromatics and the lobster meat together
Dressing
1TB basil leaves, chopped fine
1TB parsley, chopped fine
1oz sun-dried tomato
green lobster tomalley
touch olive oil
3 TB mayonnaise per person
2TB lemon juice
1 ice cube, small or 1 TB ice water
pinch saffron
1t Dijon
½t cayenne
kosher or sea s/fgp
Use a food processor and blend the dressing
Stir the stuffing into the dressing, mix well, and let sit for an hour or two.
Choice of Garnish:
Avocado slices, pickled beets, vegetable slaw
Cantaloupe slices, pickles, sprouts
Lettuce slices, potato chips
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Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743[a] – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, musician,[1] philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801, and as the first United States secretary of state under George Washington between 1790 to 1793. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
During the American Revolution, Jefferson represented Virginia in the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration of Independence. As a Virginia legislator, he drafted a state law for religious freedom. He served as the second Governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781, during the American Revolutionary War. In 1785, Jefferson was appointed the United States Minister to France, and subsequently, the nation's first Secretary of State under President George Washington from 1790 to 1793. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System. With Madison, he anonymously wrote the provocative Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1798 and 1799, which sought to strengthen states' rights by nullifying the federal Alien and Sedition Acts.
As president, Jefferson pursued the nation's shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies. Starting in 1803, Jefferson promoted a western expansionist policy, organizing the Louisiana Purchase which doubled the nation's land area. To make room for settlement, Jefferson began a controversial process of Indian tribal removal from the newly acquired territory. As a result of peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. Jefferson was reelected in 1804. His second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the trial of former vice president Aaron Burr. In 1807, American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act in response to British threats to U.S. shipping. The same year, Jefferson signed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves.
Jefferson, while primarily a planter, lawyer and politician, mastered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and mechanics. He was an architect in the classical tradition. Jefferson's keen interest in religion and philosophy led to his presidency of the American Philosophical Society; he shunned organized religion but was influenced by Christianity, Epicureanism,[2] and deism. A philologist, Jefferson knew several languages. He was a prolific letter writer and corresponded with many prominent people, including Edward Carrington, John Taylor of Caroline and James Madison. Among his books is Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), considered perhaps the most important American book published before 1800.[3] Jefferson championed the ideals, values, and teachings of the Enlightenment.
During his lifetime, Jefferson claimed ownership of over 600 slaves, who were kept in his household and on his plantations. Since Jefferson's time, controversy has revolved around his relationship with Sally Hemings, a mixed-race enslaved woman and his late wife's half-sister.[4] According to DNA evidence from surviving descendants and oral history, Jefferson probably fathered at least six children with Hemings, including four that survived to adulthood.[5] Evidence suggests that Jefferson started the relationship with Hemings when they were in Paris, where she arrived at the age of 14, when Jefferson was 44. By the time she returned to the United States at 16, she was pregnant.[6]
After retiring from public office, Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. Jefferson and his colleague John Adams both died on Independence Day, July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Presidential scholars and historians generally praise Jefferson's public achievements, including his advocacy of religious freedom and tolerance in Virginia. Although some modern scholars have been critical of his stance on slavery, Jefferson continues to rank highly among the top ten U.S. presidents.
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It’s Sunday, July 4, 2021
Welcome to the 1,148th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Father of our Country
And if you think any other man could have done a better job you are sadly mistaken.
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2.0 Commentary
Writing this a mere several hours before the expected arrival of my newly-purchased Mistral chair.
I hope it will be the life changer that I anticipate.
I remember fifty years ago waiting the arrival of our Eames Chair, the most heralded chair in the world, then. Perhaps it still is.
But the Eames Chair had no reclining element and was wonderful only if the user had that exact seat in mind at that moment, basically an erect reading chair. Untouchable.
But my body has gotten older and often likes to recline a bit and watch television or even recline more substantially and take a nap.
The Mistral offers that option.
While the weather doesn’t affect the plans of non-beach goers like myself, we all sympathize with beachers re: the timing of this cold, wet weather.
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3.0 Reading and Writing Events
Am working on my manuscript. It’s the beginning of the story and Diana, rescued from kidnappers who forcibly addicted her to heroin, is deciding whether she wants the luxury of heroin highs or will go into a recovery house. I am not having an easy time hearing her talk. I must try again later today.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
William Shakespeare,
Hamlet
“He was a philosopher, if you know what that was.’
‘A man who dreams of fewer things than there are in heaven and earth,’ said the Savage promptly.
‘Quite so…”
~Aldous Huxley,
Brave New World
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
From my daughter, Katherine, now in NYC:
“All moved in. Will send photos later.”
Blog meister responds: Quite the relief to receive. Both William and Katherine feeling under the weather. And the weather, at 95*, against them, as were the four steep flights of stairs over which they had to lug the couches, chairs, coffee tables. A parent worries. Fortunately they had friends.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
On Wednesday I ate two courses.
The first was an eight-ounce filet of halibut fried in garlic oil and flavored with celery. Lovely. Drank a glass of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio with it.
I bought a single piece of fried chicken from Whole Foods. On sale this week. It was creditable: I enjoyed it with a glass of Beaujolais, a Morgon, actually.
I finished some leftover spinach in garlic-oil and opened cans of peas and corn.
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George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was an American political leader, military general, statesman, and Founding Father of the United States, who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Washington led the Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War, and presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which established the Constitution of the United States and a federal government for the United States. Washington has been called the "Father of the Nation" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the country.
Washington's first public office was serving as official Surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia from 1749 to 1750. Subsequently, he received his initial military training (as well as a command with the Virginia Regiment) during the French and Indian War. He was later elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was named a delegate to the Continental Congress. Here he was appointed Commanding General of the Continental Army. With this title, he commanded American forces (allied with France) in the defeat and surrender of the British at the Siege of Yorktown during the American Revolutionary War. He resigned his commission after the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.
Washington played an indispensable role in adopting and ratifying the Constitution of the United States. He was then twice elected president by the Electoral College. He implemented a strong, well-financed national government while remaining impartial in a fierce rivalry between cabinet members Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. During the French Revolution, he proclaimed a policy of neutrality while sanctioning the Jay Treaty. He set enduring precedents for the office of president, including the title "Mr. President", and his Farewell Address is widely regarded as a pre-eminent statement on republicanism.
Washington owned slaves, and, to preserve national unity, he supported measures passed by Congress to protect slavery. He later became troubled with the institution of slavery and freed his slaves in a 1799 will. He endeavored to assimilate Native Americans into the Anglo-American culture but combated indigenous resistance during instances of violent conflict. He was a member of the Anglican Church and the Freemasons, and he urged broad religious freedom in his roles as general and president. Upon his death, he was eulogized as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". He has been memorialized by monuments, art, geographical locations, including the national capital, stamps, and currency, and many scholars and polls rank him among the greatest U.S. presidents. On March 13, 1978, Washington was militarily ranked General of the Armies, an honor that has only been awarded twice in the history of the United States.
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