a.d. elliott - Take the Back Roads

Dear Henry,

You know how much I love coffee, right? (and tea and hot chocolate)

Well, big news!  I finally created a line of mugs to go with my love of coffee. They are now available over at the shop.

And, somehow, I seem to have added more stops to my already ridiculously long list of future road trip destinations - The Museum of the International Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoo and Boston's Mapparium are places I want to go soon.  (Fish really needs to take some vacation).

The rainy weather this week has kept me inside and so, I was able to get in a lot of research and a lot of reading. 

It became General's week at www.everydaypatriot.com - including a biopic on Major General Jeanne Holm, the first woman to reach the rank of Major General.  I also discovered the story of Captain Lawrence Dickson, a missing Tuskegee Airman who was finally brought home.

My www.riteoffancy.com reading for the week started quite serious, with a biography on Marie Antoinette and then The Islan…

Dear Henry,

Occasionally you stumble across something that instantly grabs your attention.

For example, a secret society called The International Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoo, Incorporated grabbed my attention and I just had to ask, Who is a Hoo-Hoo?

The term Hoo-Hoo was created by B. Arthur Johnson, an editor for the Timberman. He used the term to describe a single bit of hair, twisted and oiled to a point on top of the (mostly) bald head of Charles McCarer. 

The term then spread throughout the lumber industry to describe anything weird and unusual.

B. Arthur Johnson, William Eddy Barnes, George Washington Schwartz, A Strauss, George Kimball Smith, and William Starr Mitchell would later use the term to create a "secret" society in 1892. 

The Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoo was established in Gurdon Arkansas with the purpose of fostering the health, happiness, and long life of its members. The order has, from the beginning, embraced the unusual, taking names and imag…

Dear Henry,

There were a couple of cold days this week and I felt like I spent the entire week huddled inside.   

The leaves are just barely getting color, with the dogwoods currently stealing the spotlight.  I was able to catch the light on a couple of caterpillar eaten leaves, streaked red.  I think it makes a lovely 16 X 20 print. Another newly created print is The Stairs at Devil's Den, and I really like how that one turned out.

During one of my walks, I stumbled upon a patch of crabgrass grown tall and gone to seed.  Fish is going to kill me for bringing crabgrass seeds next to his lawn but I do like the way the stalks and seeds appeared in cyanotype and I think it made a striking 11 X 14.

During my research on early Navy Aviation, I discovered the story of Admiral Marc Mitscher, who not only helped develop the catapult systems used by aircraft carriers, he was also in command of the USS Hornet during Jimmy Doolittle's Raid. I also found Sergeant Joseph Bongiorni from th…

Dear Henry, 
The Washington Post ran an article regarding the correlation between mathematical proficiency and financial success.  They even offered a math problem as a test.  I tried to solve this math problem and got the answer wrong, and I had thought, until today, I was fairly good at math.
It turns out, most people got the answer wrong and general lack of mathematical knowledge is affecting all sorts of our financial decisions.  The lack of mathematical ability, and its repercussions on the finances of the country, reminds me of a quote from Joan Didion's book Slouching Toward Bethlehem where she wrote "The ability to think for one's self depends upon one's mastery of the language", I am afraid that we (as a people) don't have a good understanding the language of math and it is causing us financial woe.
I think the problem with math is a problem in education.  Recently, while at a writing seminar, I spoke to a math teacher about this,  she is currently w…

Dear Henry,

We both know that President Theodore Roosevelt was quite the character, but I really think he stands out as a presidential pet owner.  During his presidency, the White House was a zoo, and briefly, was the home of a hyena named Bill.

Bill was a gift from Ethiopia's Emperor Menelik II in 1904, and despite President Roosevelt's dislike of hyenas (he thought they were cowardly) he did eventually grow to love the hyena, feeding it table scraps and teaching it tricks.  The hyena, though, grew too large for the White House and was moved to the National Zoo.

Other unusual pets owned by the Roosevelt's include a chicken named Baron Speckle, Bill the lizard (to distinguish from Bill the hyena), a garter snake named Emily Spinach, and finally, Josiah, the badger.  Jonathan Edwards, a bear, was also a brief member of the family before he also became too large for the White House and was moved to the National Zoo.

President Roosevelt wasn't the only president who main…

Dear Henry,

I have been totally enthralled the news surrounding the "Storm Area 51" fiasco that is supposed to take place this Friday.  But only because I have been to Area 51 and Rachel Nevada and only because I can't imagine this turning out in a way other than comical.

If you haven't heard about this yet, let me fill you in. Back in June, a college student created an event on Facebook called "Storm Area 51: They Can't Stop All of Us" as a joke.  Only everyone decided to attend....right now there are currently 2 million or so people who plan on attending.  Fearing the worst, Matty Roberts (the student) began coordinating with Connie West, the owner of the Lil A'le'inn in Rachel Nevada to host a festival.

But that partnership has come to a close, with Matty Roberts now calling the party off and throwing a party in Las Vegas.  Connie West, however, is still planning on a potential party, however, just in case.

If you do decide to go to Rachel N…