Hey everybody, I had a brisk walk in Green-Wood this morning. The Hayfoot went into the city early to coordinate a trip to Washington for some U.N. visitors.  She’s probably on her way home now.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Hey everybody, I am sorry about the lack of posts recently but it has been a crazy week.  The Hayfoot texted today lamenting that we have hardly seen each other in the past few weeks.  Alas, all too correct.  Her classes are keeping her busy and her new job at the U.N. is challenging, though rewarding.  I spent the bulk of this evening working on my final draft for next week’s Researching New York conference.  Things are taking shape.  This weekend I will put the final touches on the photographs and then the hard work will be done.  We’re going to try to slow down a little this Saturday and Sunday.

We had a treat on campus today when Pete Hamill was in attendance to participate in a panel discussion.  I have seen Hamill speak several times and what always impresses me is his ability to tailor a talk for the audience and the occasion.  We are fortunate to live in New York and where we get to see and hear people like him on a regular basis.  Living in the Big Apple is something I never take for granted.

Enjoy your weekend.

Hey everybody, I am at the Apple store in SOHO.  I woke up bright and early for a 9:00 am personal project session.  It was cold when I left the house.  I am putting together the visuals for my upcoming talk at the Researching New York conference in Albany, which is now less than two weeks away.  I am looking forward to meeting Tony Horowitz, who is giving the keynote.  There is also going to be a tour of the New York State Museum.  Yesterday I had a meeting in the city and afterward I walked around the corner to Penn Station to buy my train ticket.  I have never been to Albany before.

It has been interesting because I bought this new Mac Air in August and then a used iPad 1 in September.  My research interests and technology sessions are going parallel to each other; if all goes as intended they will merge down the line.  Last month I purchased Keynote for both and am going to use the two together during my presentation.  Because one never knows with technology, I am also going to build in redundancy and save it to a flash drive along with a cd.  It is tedious, but I find I enjoy it.

The Hayfoot started a contractual position at the United Nations this week and has been happily but hectically busy.  She is actually there right now catching up on a few things.  With the semester in full swing one takes it a day at a time. It won’t be all work though.  Tomorrow is the Hackensack Toy Soldier Show in New Jersey.  It will be another early morning when I get on the subway to the Port Authority to catch the bus.  This is the big show where everybody blows their allowance.  I have a feeling there will be some troops making the trip back with me.  I will take some photos.

Enjoy your weekend.  And remember to move your clocks back.

Munch’s The Scream

“I don’t want to say my work is dangerous,” Olson said. “But I would say it’s ambitious.”

Those are the words of Don Olson, a physics professor at Texas State University.  Since the late 1980s Professor Olson has been debunking various “facts” from the worlds of history, art, and literature.  His scholarship has examined Caesar’s crossing of the English Channel, the mortal wounding of Stonewall Jackson, and the artwork and alleged insanity of Edvard Munch.  One reason it is so exciting to be a writer and researcher today is the interdisciplinary nature of today’s scholarship.

The life of an infantryman is always a tough lot.  For a visual compare and contrast between Billy Yank and the grunt serving in the military today, click here.

(Image/19th Century Firearms)

We will never know President James Buchanan’s sexual orientation with 100% certainty, but it would not be a total shock if he indeed turned out to have been gay.  We have had forty four presidents and what would be shocking is if at least one of them were not.  Several years ago certain groups argued Lincoln was homosexual because he sometimes slept in the same bed with other men during his years on the Illinois legal circuit.  The evidence, to put it mildly, was weak; sleeping in such a manner was common practice in mid nineteenth century America, when accommodations were scarce and travellers made do as best they could.  I am sympathetic to the search by persecuted groups in the  search for role models. History, though is about following the evidence where it leads, not making claims one wishes to be true. It will be interesting to see where the Buchanan story goes.  If true, it would add a more nuanced interpretation to Buchanan and his times.