Here is a partial list of people I personally saw, or at least saw evidence of, working on Thanksgiving:

• Convenience and grocery store clerks
• State police officers
• Tollbooth attendants
• Truckers
• Certified nursing assistants

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It's Halloween! As I've mentioned before, I am not great fan of Halloween, largely because I am not a fan of dressing up in costume, and if you're not going to do that, and if you don't get a special thrill out of kids in costume begging you for candy or don't have kids yourself, there's really no point to it. I do enjoy carving pumpkins now and ( Read more... )

If you've been on the Internet the last few days, you've probably seen that long piece on The Oatmeal about why Christopher Columbus is unworthy of being honored a Federal holiday. (Here's a poem by Jimmie Durham making essentially the same point.) It's true, but until today I just couldn't very exercised about it. But then today I wanted to mail a ( Read more... )

Every yar during Advent, my church choir presents a major work celebrating the season during a Sunday worship service. This year, we're doing selections from Vivaldi's Gloria, which I may or may not have sung before. I don't remember singing it, but the first movement was undeniably familiar to me when we started rehearsing it this last Thursday. ( Read more... )

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Earlier today, I saw a woman standing at a bus stop and wearing a National History Day shirt. I'd never heard of National History Day, but I liked the sound of it ( Read more... )

May 1 is Loyalty Day, a special day for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom. I do so reaffirm and recognize! Specifically I recognize my freedom to post this outrageously communistic image once again:


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Happy Earth Day! Earth Day was invented right here in Wisconsin, you know, by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson. Here's a picture from the very first Earth Day March at the Wisconsin State Capitol, back in 1970:


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It’s President’s Day! Well, no, actually, it isn’t. Per 5 U.S.C. § 6103, the third Monday in February is Washington’s Birthday, not Presidents Day.

But nuts to that! Nothing against George Washington, but people would remember him even if his birthday wasn’t a Federal holiday. With Washington state and Washington, D.C. and 35 communities called ( Read more... )