tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63109094123887251812024-03-19T16:12:52.367-07:00First Fallen: the Life and Times of Colonel Elmer EllsworthColonel Elmer Ellsworth was the first Union officer to die in the American Civil War. No new biography of his life has been published since 1960--so I am writing one.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.comBlogger344125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-15452391781225033442013-02-16T17:47:00.000-08:002013-02-16T17:47:34.373-08:00Fighting On!Thanks to Mr. Wolf (you know who you are!), I am going to try a series of "fixes" to the hacking problem. The responses show up in my email, from AOL. but they are not on the site. Anyway, it will be rocky here for a bit--bear with me!Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-75541979522845938752013-02-12T20:02:00.002-08:002013-02-12T20:02:57.337-08:00Hacked--alas!Readers--someone who bills him or herself as "Anonymous" has seriously hacked this blog. I get 20-30 phony replies a day in my InBox, all offering me Viagra or a Russian bride. Plus some other stuff that was pretty offensive.<br />
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Any suggestions? Blogspot, the host of this site, has no way for me to get in touch with them--HELP!!Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-17667538354735431222013-01-21T18:54:00.002-08:002013-01-21T18:54:30.317-08:00Second Inaugurals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lincoln's Second Inaugural was brilliantly discussed by Walt Whitman, but his words seem sad, and not a little prophetic.<br />
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When I look at the photos of the Second Inaugural, I remember only too clearly who was not there--our Colonel. He had worked so hard to elect Lincoln. He rode the famous Inaugural Express to Washington, protecting Lincoln and the First Family as he went. He, Hay, and Nicolay sat together in the crowd at the Capital to hear Lincoln repeat the oath of office, and later that evening, they went as a trio of bachelors to the Inaugural Ball, held in a large tent erected especially for the occasion.<br />
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I know Elmer Ellsworth was missed. I missed him today.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-9077361470089082362013-01-15T21:14:00.005-08:002013-01-16T19:20:06.564-08:00SAVING LINCOLN Update!!!No image tonight, but excellent news:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The Kickstarter campaign for </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">has already met its original goal, and more!</span></div>
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Thanks so much to everyone who donated. I will post more later, but check for yourself on the Kickstarter site.</div>
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HUZZAH!!!!!!!! & a Tiger!</div>
Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-22281640016468071812013-01-11T21:36:00.001-08:002013-01-11T21:36:13.192-08:00NOT How the West Was Won<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I watched an interesting movie last week--<i>How The West Was Won</i>. It had a bunch of stars from earlier decades, and the Civil War was included. This fact was why I watched it, btw. Oh my!<br />
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First, it was news to me that the West was won without the involvement of any African-Americans, or Africans either. There were smatterings of Germans (once) and a long shot including Asians, but I don't remember any Irish or AAs. Oh--there were a few Native Americans, but not too many. Who does these things?<br />
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The Civil War part was pretty funny. Harry Morgan (MASH?) was Grant, and at least his memorable voice did the character some justice. Sherman--yep, tall, thin, gangly Sherman--was played by John Wayne. Please help me! This was just so wrong, on so many levels. Sherman is prolly still laughing.<br />
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So--long story short--just because a movie has "some Civil War stuff in it," don't just trust that this will make it worth watching. Ever. Really.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-36493284636086211892013-01-07T18:04:00.002-08:002013-01-07T18:04:39.244-08:00Winter All Over<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #bf5300; font-size: 19px;">Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2 [Winter] </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">by <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001P95vjYy7rGXc1mN5TSjrNM6_imucRKYTp5dQ3os1dLDr5dEGku8fPvMB3bTsLZnqzVBfsrh_xfnysNkVrtLmhc-GbV6HxJXd-Wq-R1P2Er0nghLAHaguVM2QfNcyD8DZlrtI9PvuIEmC_9neWiD9yR7osFoaBi_TcspUP3ZtIbNTohMjF-S9y0UKueC9PbSZVWhsCJ_tgDsjF55FdGhvlLvgWC3FjPHZRlyqx5al6MTNggGyY3y2n1lYk4NCJtNjp1gmuAofBfVVT6CqtSuHgC5VDF2Y-ggxz3xqATxB7paycQ5WGKJY0FkZAzJ1HOwwvFNq3R27zp2Wlawqwlm1sMbF0bcbNw7ze9Ws8QLB9ECQTBpQlwcRZYvHYzx518ii" shape="rect" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">William Shakespeare</a></span></div>
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When icicles hang by the wall<br /> And Dick the shepherd blows his nail<br />And Tom bears logs into the hall<br /> And milk comes frozen home in pail,<br />When blood is nipp'd and ways be foul,<br />Then nightly sings the staring owl,<br /> Tu-whit;<br />Tu-who, a merry note,<br />While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.<br /><br />When all aloud the wind doth blow<br /> And coughing drowns the parson's saw<br />And birds sit brooding in the snow<br /> And Marian's nose looks red and raw,<br />When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,<br />Then nightly sings the staring owl,<br /> Tu-whit;<br />Tu-who, a merry note,<br />While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.</div>
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Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-2727694266571012042013-01-03T22:50:00.004-08:002013-01-03T22:50:51.924-08:00Cinnamon Hardtack & Coffee, Please!<br />
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<span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">I have several reenactor friends--Ok, I did that myself for years--and one of them on Facebook does a little something special to her hardtack for the holidays. Personally, I see this heartshaped for Valentine's Day. The first part is a recipe from <i>Total Gettysburg</i>, from a blog called (I think) <i>Wedded To War</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">So, my friend makes this recipe, but sprinkles sugar and cinnamon on top of the crackers. Aw!!!!!!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS27SqHgJ29W67RK2g7vJoE2mib6RWujUBSJ9KLpOqX6xzoJxhAjFfoDEHuTPEnk5yHsnV_Bm4MTZfIcZyFmXYXLaljFNi6y1gT0Zo5go-nLfjgdDoEdagesT6yxMA5sl_Bal1TKOxTCQ/s1600/hard+tack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS27SqHgJ29W67RK2g7vJoE2mib6RWujUBSJ9KLpOqX6xzoJxhAjFfoDEHuTPEnk5yHsnV_Bm4MTZfIcZyFmXYXLaljFNi6y1gT0Zo5go-nLfjgdDoEdagesT6yxMA5sl_Bal1TKOxTCQ/s320/hard+tack.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dr. Caleb Lansing’s Hardtack</strong></div>
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Wiping his glistening forehead with the back of his hand, Caleb looked through the haze of smoke at the rest of the camp. The men sat on the ground or overturned barrels, unwrapping small bundles of hardtack from their haversacks. He pulled out his own, placed it on a flat rock, and rammed a Sharp rifle butt onto it, breaking it into pieces. <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">~Wedded to War</em></div>
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Hardtack was a staple food in the Union soldier’s diet, but notorious for being either rock hard or full of weevils. Imagine drilling and marching for miles with very little but hardtack to eat!</div>
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<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Ingredients</em>:</div>
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- butter for greasing the baking pan<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />- 5 cups all-purpose flour<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />- 1 TB baking powder<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />- 1 TB salt<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />- 1 2/3 cups water</div>
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Preheat the oven to 450 F. Grease the baking sheet. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and water. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. With freshly washed hands, squeeze the flour mixture with your fingers, this will be a very stiff dough. Flatten the dough to about 1/2 inch into a large rectangle. Using a knife, lightly trace lines into the dough to divide the pieces into 3 X 3″ square pieces.</div>
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Use a toothpick to prick holes across the entire surface in neat rows 3/4 of an inch apart. Be sure the holes go all the way through the dough to the baking sheet. Bake the dough about 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Remove the hardtack from the baking sheet with a metal spatula. Makes about 9 hard crackers.</div>
Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-83221073527573849932013-01-01T15:29:00.001-08:002013-01-01T15:29:26.669-08:00Emancipation Proclamation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3v5JfysQ_EZWUcxVlSDvrTJRBEBIiXl6eHw8pQDXSg91rhO_PEh_mubM2tIVbk5CnNRvVkptnr7aSFmJRMQyEdtyIM0TAOSidK0kIz3oJl3d2odYROZD00ZUmAPzreVh90idF_7bJFw/s1600/jan1lincoln.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3v5JfysQ_EZWUcxVlSDvrTJRBEBIiXl6eHw8pQDXSg91rhO_PEh_mubM2tIVbk5CnNRvVkptnr7aSFmJRMQyEdtyIM0TAOSidK0kIz3oJl3d2odYROZD00ZUmAPzreVh90idF_7bJFw/s400/jan1lincoln.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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Much as I love old postcards, sometimes you gotta wonder just whose idea this was . . .<br />
the postcard, not the Proclamation.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-40211251388417307052012-12-31T17:05:00.002-08:002012-12-31T17:05:22.488-08:00Happy New Year, Auld & New Acquaintances<table bgcolor="#FFFFFF" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-size: 19px;">At the Entering of the New Year</span><span style="color: #bf5300; font-size: 19px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">by <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001kCy7M3gGM9tLgqyuCrjRkeJaYBr1DVokhaA9Y6lGRzx-p_iUnV3fxIlD47gKYad6WrcqNeBnsQij5hDIXJiETWTVhJtds37RzdvjQzl9hbmoHSt4fRUFCmnLT7bm38S74TuzU0h4-Wchkysb5sye-pM6hPrcK0a_moV_7ZvEdaS4hMoF0icgNfkrgesssYTUO30hA2SZ46ktt0IH6DvM3kBTsLACA4eD01JIXPkVBWEd1DJFxfMgPJmuPbrfFcEbEJu2K2pFmF7S4CFgmjn4JPYaSDt7vLfygeFQpfsVF5hnED7zpU9QTu9wwu5aQhpXj-FK-QGVB53cgT0i9H5RFg==" shape="rect" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Thomas Hardy</a></span></div>
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I<br />
(OLD STYLE)<br />
<br />
Our songs went up and out the chimney,<br />
And roused the home-gone husbandmen;<br />
Our allemands, our heys, poussettings,<br />
Our hands-across and back again,<br />
Sent rhythmic throbbings through the casements<br />
On to the white highway,<br />
Where nighted farers paused and muttered,<br />
"Keep it up well, do they!"<br />
<br />
The contrabasso's measured booming<br />
Sped at each bar to the parish bounds,<br />
To shepherds at their midnight lambings,<br />
To stealthy poachers on their rounds;<br />
And everybody caught full duly<br />
The notes of our delight,<br />
As Time unrobed the Youth of Promise<br />
Hailed by our sanguine sight.<br />
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II<br />
(NEW STYLE)<br />
<br />
We stand in the dusk of a pine-tree limb,<br />
As if to give ear to the muffled peal,<br />
Brought or withheld at the breeze's whim;<br />
But our truest heed is to words that steal<br />
From the mantled ghost that looms in the gray,<br />
And seems, so far as our sense can see,<br />
To feature bereaved Humanity,<br />
As it sighs to the imminent year its say:-<br />
<br />
"O stay without, O stay without,<br />
Calm comely Youth, untasked, untired;<br />
Though stars irradiate thee about<br />
Thy entrance here is undesired.<br />
Open the gate not, mystic one;<br />
Must we avow what we would close confine?<br />
<i>With thee, good friend, we would have </i></div>
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<i> converse none,</i><br />
Albeit the fault may not be thine."<br />
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<br />
<i>December 31. During the War.</i></div>
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Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-87318357592511862262012-12-30T14:30:00.000-08:002012-12-30T14:30:15.650-08:00Kickstarter.com & Saving Lincoln<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObOHdBTuQy_xQhUh3MIkIbM3myvWzh8aS8-w264um70Zv7hka8TaOF-W4SvcGkyvZmRbFTJxipG1Ur9hQh_UYvWewgNgKzeJSprhsMbSR1S9bsjWagQpn9XlvsnJZhyYPlMm6VPZyG5w/s1600/f8c7a854f2c92b4fd331a9cc6addfeab_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRZ8AiKuJK0jucHhyuyXBScMTjJnqEOTa890Zgt4sOeBvfZjqq5EgP32HazbilpSEVEoVgiUKcph2d66s1Rzzakqk9rUZwaqGnaoTTopZXyK3YmPPoPQCnn_pd3JjZ6EQjThkInGJUV8/s1600/photo-little.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRZ8AiKuJK0jucHhyuyXBScMTjJnqEOTa890Zgt4sOeBvfZjqq5EgP32HazbilpSEVEoVgiUKcph2d66s1Rzzakqk9rUZwaqGnaoTTopZXyK3YmPPoPQCnn_pd3JjZ6EQjThkInGJUV8/s320/photo-little.jpg" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObOHdBTuQy_xQhUh3MIkIbM3myvWzh8aS8-w264um70Zv7hka8TaOF-W4SvcGkyvZmRbFTJxipG1Ur9hQh_UYvWewgNgKzeJSprhsMbSR1S9bsjWagQpn9XlvsnJZhyYPlMm6VPZyG5w/s200/f8c7a854f2c92b4fd331a9cc6addfeab_large.jpg" width="200" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></div>
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Good friends of this blog & fans enough of our Colonel to include him in their movie, <i>Saving Lincoln</i>, the Litvaks have begun a campaign on kickstarter.com to fund the premier & distribution of the movie itself. I will try to add the link to this worthy endeavor here, but if that doesn't work, please just google up <i>Saving Lincoln</i> and look for the kickstarter.com address.<br />
<br />
I really can't say enough good things about this effort. These folks seem super nice, and have written many times to me concerning Ellsworth and Ward Hill Lamon. They have always been positive and supportive, and have supported emergingcivilwar.com as well.<br />
<br />
The way kickstarter works is amazing, and completely safe. It is funded via amazon.com, and your contribution won't even be used unless the entire goal is met. It simply could not be safer to donate in this manner, and the minimum donation is just about $5. You get cool stuff when you donate, up to and including the premier of the movie & the after party, for a serious amount of bucks.<br />
<br />
I don't have that sort of money, but I did donate enough to get a copy of the Lamon book on Lincoln. I have a copy, but the printing is terrible, and it is unreadable for most of the volume. I hope this one is better.<br />
<br />
Another extremely cool thing is that long-ago friend Dave Alvin (the musician) is doing a part of the music. Dave (who prolly doesn't even remember me) and I used to go to Cal State Long Beach, and we both took writing classes from the immortal Gerald Locklin. Dave was a wonderful man then, and apparently still is. <br />
<br />
So--please pledge money. Every bit helps, and it has to be done quickly, as the drive ends January 28. Watch the short video about the amazing way in which the film was made, & keep your fingers crossed.<br />
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This is a win-win deal--REMEMBER ELLSWORTH!!!<br />
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Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-70099731845616721702012-12-27T11:25:00.001-08:002012-12-27T11:25:15.555-08:00It's Beginning To Smell A Lot Like Christmas!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJEzwYn4mB_23fx8b6SzzDsMmrlTpt2loCMTykhvpBLxlUZuAnkUYqbnoWiAdYVo1ps8fEGNlN7zE6enO4r-asBtlJYURNPppPEJrxNH8eH_a4A_S9wmfr_Mdhflu6EzzHAs_JOoAVCc/s1600/santa_skunk_oval_ornament.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJEzwYn4mB_23fx8b6SzzDsMmrlTpt2loCMTykhvpBLxlUZuAnkUYqbnoWiAdYVo1ps8fEGNlN7zE6enO4r-asBtlJYURNPppPEJrxNH8eH_a4A_S9wmfr_Mdhflu6EzzHAs_JOoAVCc/s1600/santa_skunk_oval_ornament.jpg" /></a></div>
I live in a house with a cellar. Guess what is living in my cellar? Yep! Skunks!<br />
<br />
We caught one--Mr. Stinky--before Christmas, but his mom (I think . . .) is still there. I mean I <b><u>know</u> </b>she is there, I just am not sure of the inter-skunk relationship.<br />
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So, last night was pretty bad. The skunk won't go into the trap, no matter what bait we use. I guess it is just a matter of waiting . . .<br />
<br />
In the time-honored tradition of naming all animals and people with whom I come in contact, I have christened this one <i>Osama bin Stinky</i>, as it is difficult to capture, and very odoriferous.<br />
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This post has absolutely nothing to do with the Civil War. Nothing.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-91349441510009036262012-12-26T09:53:00.002-08:002012-12-26T09:56:30.529-08:00Another Day at the Computer!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4AaZOoNs3wO3OM-LrOzQH-KdflPBMWWHx0ISGil6NEspz5U5bWhkgX2kCnney9r2Ojo8aIfFgAejie8DuCTApCsfnqhUkax3gcRft51LqZ9xA3KQX7TrFsYlqDfeEvnwmm3wsoMKCbs/s1600/LincolnsChristmasBox.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4AaZOoNs3wO3OM-LrOzQH-KdflPBMWWHx0ISGil6NEspz5U5bWhkgX2kCnney9r2Ojo8aIfFgAejie8DuCTApCsfnqhUkax3gcRft51LqZ9xA3KQX7TrFsYlqDfeEvnwmm3wsoMKCbs/s400/LincolnsChristmasBox.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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Lincoln's War Powers! . . . and the doctrine continues!</div>
Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-41320465433277331192012-12-24T20:12:00.001-08:002012-12-24T20:12:11.844-08:00First Fallen: the Life and Times of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth: . . . and to all, a good night!<a href="http://elmerellsworth.blogspot.com/2012/12/and-to-all-good-night.html?spref=bl">First Fallen: the Life and Times of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth: . . . and to all, a good night!</a>: Longfellow with his wife, Frances "Fanny" Elizabeth Appleton with Charles and Ernest, ca. 1849. (Photo from the National Park Service, L...Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-84449682435900126792012-12-24T20:11:00.000-08:002012-12-24T20:11:01.003-08:00 . . . and to all, a good night!<br />
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<a href="http://hiddencause.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/longfellow_family.jpg" style="color: #2089cc; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-2713" height="300" src="http://hiddencause.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/longfellow_family.jpg?w=241&h=300" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f2f2f2; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 10px; max-width: 98%; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" title="longfellow_family" width="241" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
Longfellow with his wife, Frances "Fanny" Elizabeth Appleton with Charles and Ernest, ca. 1849. (Photo from the National Park Service, Longfellow National Historic Site)</div>
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The Christmas song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” was arranged and set to music by John Baptiste Calkin, but it was based on a poem that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote on Christmas Day 1863. Calkin removed the two stanzas relating to the war, thus gutting the meaning in order to add to an already over-filled canon of treacly Christmas tunes.</div>
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The war of course had by that time turned out much more brutally than any of the New England abolitionists had imagined. Even after the Union was required to resort to arms, the objectives were only slowly realized. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, but it did not cover the 800,000 slaves outside the rebelling states. And every military victory cost so much blood, yet didn’t seem to bring an end closer. By the end of 1863, despite the victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg in July, the war was proceeding with grim and determined ferociousness. By winter the Union optimism of summer had turned into discontent.</div>
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Longfellow, though he condemned slavery, was never the fire-breathing abolitionist that most New England intellectuals were. But his close friend, Senator Charles Sumner, certainly was. He not only harshly condemned the slave measures pursued by the Southern Democrats and the violence that slavery supporters incited, he delivered scathing descriptions of pro-slavery politicians, including fellow Senators. In his famous “<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=agwxPmo1zYwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+crime+against+Kansas:+the+apologies+for+the+crime&hl=en&ei=hMUOTanwGYP68Aafq6W6DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;">Crime against Kansas</a>” speech in May 1956, Sumner described Senator Andrew Butler as the Don Quixote of the slavocracy and Senator Stephen Douglas his Sancho Panza. He also pointed out Butler’s physical deformity and claimed Douglas had a mistress–”the harlot Slavery.” On reading the speech, Longfellow wrote his friend: “At last the spirit of the North is aroused.” Southern chivalry was also roused. Two days after the speech, Butler’s cousin, Preston Brooks, a congressman from South Carolina, approached Sumner who was writing at his desk in the nearly empty Senate chamber and clubbed him repeatedly with his cane. Sumner nearly died. The incident sealed the Northern view of Southern Democrats as irrational thugs who would stop at nothing to spread slavery.</div>
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Years before, in 1842, Longfellow had published for Sumner a very thin book of abolitionist poems, <em>Poems on Slavery </em>(Cambridge: John Owen: 1842). It contained only eight poems, all very mild by Sumner’s standards. In fact, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/opinion/19Lepore.html" style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Longfellow himself said</a> that the poems were “so mild that even a slaveholder might read them without losing his appetite for breakfast.” Nevertheless, activist Elihu Burritt proposed to print selections from the volume and distribute them in tracts in hundreds of thousands of copies. He wrote: “When the millions of our American bondsmen are brought out of their Egyptian prison-house by a mighty hand & outstretched Arm, they shall sing your ‘Slaves Dream’ ‘The Witnesses’ & ‘Quadroon Girl’ by the other shore of their Red Sea of captivity.” (November 6, 1843; quoted in Merle E. Curti, “Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Elihu Burritt,”<em>7 American Literature</em> 315, at 318-19 (November 1935).) As a result of this book, Longfellow was asked to take a more active role in the anti-slavery movement, but he declined. Privately, however, Longfellow used funds from royalties of his popular poems to buy freedom for slaves.</div>
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Longfellow would closely follow the politics of the impending dissolution carefully over the years from Sumner’s caning. He in fact wrote “Paul Revere’s Ride,” a clarion call for the Union which had just elected Lincoln, in time for Christmas 1860 (and published in <em>The Atlantic Monthly</em>). There would be a new Revolution, wrote Longfellow.</div>
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<a href="http://hiddencause.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/fanny-appleton-longfellow.jpeg" style="color: #2089cc; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-2712" src="http://hiddencause.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/fanny-appleton-longfellow.jpeg?w=510" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f2f2f2; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 10px; max-width: 98%; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" title="fanny appleton longfellow" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
Fanny Appleton. "My morning and my evening star of love!" Longfellow wooed her for 7 years. The fire that took her is said to have started when she was melting wax to seal envelopes containing her childrens' hair. Longfellow couldn't save her though he tried. (from Wikipedia)</div>
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But the war did not quickly solve the moral crisis. Rather, it brought long anguish to the country and deep personal grief to Longfellow. In April shortly after the bombardment of Fort Sumner, Virginia voted to join the rest of the seceding states, striking a deep blow at the prospect of a quick resolution of the treason. In May Britain ominously declared its neutrality. But for Longfellow the greatest tragedy of all took place in July when his wife Fanny died in an accident that caught her clothes on fire. Longfellow tried to put the fire out, but she had severe burns all over her body. She lived through the night, and died the next day. Longfellow had been burned trying to smother the flames, so was unable to attend the funeral. He tried to drown his grief laudanum upon which he became so dependent that he feared he would be committed to an asylum.</div>
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And even that was not the end of his sorrows. In 1863 his son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, ran off to join the Union Army. “I have tried hard to resist the temptation of going without your leave but I cannot any longer,” he wrote his father. “I feel it to be my first duty to do what I can for my country and I would willingly lay down my life for it if it would be of any good.” He apparently was not accepted into the infantry, owing to an accident years before when he shot off his thumb. So he applied to Captain W.H. McCartney, commander of Battery A of the 1st Massachusetts Artillery and asked to enlist. Captain McCartney, a friend of the family, wrote Longfellow, who gave permission even though he was greatly concerned. Longfellow tried to obtain preferment for his son by approaches to Sumner and others, but in the end, it was unnecessary; Charles had been appointed lieutenant on his own merits.</div>
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<a href="http://hiddencause.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/ca-longfellow.jpg" style="color: #2089cc; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-2705" src="http://hiddencause.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/ca-longfellow.jpg?w=510" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f2f2f2; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 10px; max-width: 98%; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" title="ca longfellow" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
Lt. Charles Appleton Longfellow</div>
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Lt. Longfellow’s first brush with combat came on the outskirts of the Battle of Chancellorsville, that great debacle which nearly crushed the vastly overwhelming Army of the Potomac. In early June Charles contracted typhoid fever and malaria and was invalided home to recover. He could not rejoin his unit until August 15, 1863, and thus missed Gettysburg. In September at Culpepper he witnessed an artillery round take off the legs of a man standing next to him. On November 27, he himself was severely wounded. In the Mine Run Campaign, while in a skirmish during the battle of New Hope Church, Virginia, he was shot in the left shoulder. The bullet traveled across his back, and exited under his right shoulder. He was carried by ambulance to the Rapidan River. On December 1, 1863, Longfellow learned of the catastrophe and immediately took his other son Ernest to Washington to recover Charles. They brought him home, reaching Cambridge on December 8. The wound proved too severe to allow Lt. Longfellow to return to his unit, and he was discharged on February 15, 1864.</div>
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And so Christmas 1863 was a time of great national and personal sorrow for Longfellow. But that morning he heard the church bells which would give him the hope that justice in the end would prevail.</div>
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<strong>Christmas Bells</strong></div>
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by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</div>
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I heard the bells on Christmas Day<br />Their old, familiar carols play,<br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">And wild and sweet</span><br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">The words repeat</span><br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</div>
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And thought how, as the day had come,<br />The belfries of all Christendom<br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">Had rolled along</span><br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">The unbroken song</span><br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</div>
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Till, ringing, singing on its way,<br />The world revolved from night to day,<br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">A voice, a chime,</span><br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">A chant sublime</span><br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</div>
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Then from each black, accursed mouth<br />The cannon thundered in the South,<br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">And with the sound</span><br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">The carols drowned</span><br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</div>
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It was as if an earthquake rent<br />The hearth-stones of a continent,<br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">And made forlorn</span><br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">The households born</span><br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</div>
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And in despair I bowed my head;<br />“There is no peace on earth,” I said:<br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">“For hate is strong,</span><br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">And mocks the song</span><br />Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”</div>
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Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:<br />“God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!<br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">The Wrong shall fail,</span><br /><span style="padding-left: 30px;">The Right prevail,</span><br />With peace on earth, good-will to men!”</div>
Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-45366273951643653782012-12-23T18:07:00.000-08:002012-12-23T18:07:34.943-08:00Blessed Be<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To all who have wondered where I may have been, or what may have happened, the news is terribly boring, I'm afraid. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I just got very busy--I took two classes at APU for my Masters (big mistake!), got a new assignment at work, in a grade level I have not taught before, and I have a mom that is pretty ill and a house to run--and that's it!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ok--I have a gentleman caller, and I play World of Warcraft. There's that!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But that's it, really. The book went out last summer for readings, and got pretty good reviews. The only problem I am having is with two spots, and they are the kinds of problem that is good to have: I have done much more research on the 1860 Republican Convention, and Ellsworth was a bigger part of that than formerly realized, and Ellsworth's bill to the Illinois State Legislature is looking to be more important than I had formerly realized. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, some rewrites are in order.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In addition, I have done quite a bit for emergingcivilwar.com, and have some things to do for them "on the stove" even now. They are wonderful people, and deserve my best!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">All that being said, I have also been thinking about revamping First Fallen--perhaps including some information about my trials getting my advanced degree, and some of the things that go into becoming a historian, most of which I was unaware!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So--Merry Christmas to All, and I will be here much more regularly. Tomorrow will be a reprint from ECW, but a worthwhile one.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">All my love,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Meg & History Cat</span>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-61847437526837786512012-10-01T21:06:00.000-07:002012-10-01T21:06:21.925-07:00When This Cruel Class Is Over<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In case anyone was wondering where I am or what has happened, it is just work and school. I thought I could take two classes for my Masters. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was SO wrong!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anyway, they will both end on October 29, and I will return to these pages at that time, full time! I promise!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Masters is very demanding, not to mention having a demanding full-time job teaching 7th grade pre-Algebra, maintaining a household and owning the house into which it fits, and all the other things that come along in life.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Don't let anyone tell you getting a degree on-line is easy. it is certainly not! Nevertheless, I am loving it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, I ask for your good wishes as the end of these two classes comes 'round the corner. Papers to write, books to read, grades to fret about!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have found a bunch of new & exciting things about Elmer Ellsworth, too. Enough for a whole new chapter on the Republican National Convention in Chicago, 1860.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">See you soon!</span>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-11083775093386973212012-08-21T21:23:00.003-07:002012-08-21T21:23:48.055-07:00The Republican National Convention!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My life got incredibly complicated, so just bear with me and all will be back to normal when my 2 classes end in early October. I will NEVER take two classes again!<br />
<br />
I will be starting a short-in-word-length but regular series of of posts for emergingcivilwar.com about the Election of 1860. I may try to write as if I were there . . . or not.<br />
<br />
Anyway, with politics upon us beginning late this week, look for more posts.<br />
<br />
I promise.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-59930503422622355642012-08-15T18:32:00.001-07:002012-08-15T18:32:11.355-07:00Red Velvet Cake! OMG!<br />
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Red Velvet Cake--what a scam! Nope--it wasn't invented at
the Waldorf-Astoria. In fact, it is a Southern concoction. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It dates back to at least 1873. In Southern cookbooks of
that time, the term velvet was used to describe a cake with a fine, even
texture or "crumb." There were Chocolate Velvet cakes, Silver Velvet,
etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then came the Great Depression, and an entrepreneur named
John A. Adams. His family had owned a food coloring and flavor extracts
business since 1888, but was hit hard by the economy. Mr. Adams set up displays
throughout the South and Midwest in grocery stores. Under a banner featuring
the reddest of Red Velvet cakes, the offer of a free recipe for Red Velvet cake
was given away free with every purchase. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The recipe included Adams Best Vanilla, Adams Butter Flavor
and TWO bottles of Adams Red Color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
became a sensation!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Which is why I laugh at the very idea of a Red Velvet Cake
as a delicacy. Whether it is vanilla, or has a touch of chocolate in its
flavor, basically the cake is a butter cake with a huge addition of red petrochemical
dye. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My, my!!<o:p></o:p></div>
Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-60223934492132060522012-08-13T17:36:00.002-07:002012-08-13T17:36:26.127-07:00Books! Books! More Books!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am surrounded by books. I read constantly, and sometimes I read really hard stuff--not funny, or interesting, or even informative, sometimes. Just difficult.<br />
<br />
I have spent the last week powering through a week-long math workshop, then coming home and reading. No Olympics, just books.<br />
<br />
<i>Three Days At Gettysburg, Sun Tzu at Gettysburg, Jersey Cavaliers: A History of the First New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry 1861-1865, Gettysburg's Forgotten Cavalry Actions, The Battle for Brinkerhoff's Ridge and East Cavalry Field, "Come On You Wolverines!": Custer At Gettysburg, The Cavalry Battle That Saved the Union: Custer vs. Stuart at Gettysburg</i>---<br />
<br />
. . . and those are just the ones right in front of me.<br />
<br />
I don't even <i>like</i> Custer very much.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-9576448239474253372012-08-06T21:27:00.000-07:002012-08-06T21:27:00.259-07:00Red Velvet Cake Exposed!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">There has been a lot of hoopla over Red Velvet Cakes in the last couple of years. They always make me laugh!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">When my mom taught me to bake, we discussed Red Velvet Cakes, and Devil's Food. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">The term "velvet" comes from the texture of the cake itself, and is just what one gets when one uses a cake mix. The grain is even and the cake hold together well. This used to be difficult to achieve when making cakes from scratch, but with a mix, it is a given.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">I will explain Devil's Food Cake first, and tomorrow, Red Velvet Cake. Spoiler Alert!! This has nothing to do with the Civil War. It is from the Great Depression and earlier. I think it ironic that, just as we have entered another Great Depression, we have resurrected Red Velvet Cake. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Basically, both require a whole bottle of red food coloring. When you make a chocolate cake from a mix, pour the bottle of food coloring into the measured amount of liquid used for the recipe. The result will be a very red-tinted chocolate cake--hence </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">DEVIL'S</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Food. The icing is any chocolate icing with red food coloring added. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Yep--our traditional American foods usually require the addition of a significant amount of petro-chemicals.</span>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-10559039407758432822012-08-04T09:00:00.003-07:002012-08-04T09:00:40.629-07:00. . . and tonight's Top Ten!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Boy, am I in hot water now!<br />
<br />
I thought it was a good idea to do a series of book reviews of MY Top 10 Civil war books for emergingcivilwar.com. You know, just to share with others & talk about how to build a pretty good little home reference/inspiration library.<br />
<br />
So, I wrote up my intro, being sure to be gracious and underscoring that the forthcoming selections would be mine only. I invited comment & criticism even!!<br />
<br />
Well, let us just say Fort Sumter has received incoming fire.<br />
<br />
I wrote that my first would be Bruce Catton's series that ends with <i>A Stillness At Appomattox</i>, and that is all I have said, but I have already had folks tell me that I had picked an impossible job to do, etc.<br />
<br />
(BTW, a faithful reader of <i>First Fallen</i> has made positive comments! Just sayin')<br />
<br />
After a summer of war theory, I think I at least know the theory behind defense.<br />
We shall see.<br />
<br />
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-69432102329293605432012-08-02T12:12:00.002-07:002012-08-02T14:09:33.628-07:00Johnnie, We Hardly Knew Ye<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I spend my days and nights surrounded by dead men.<br />
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Many of them weren't exactly <i>men</i> when they died, but were men in the way they chose to live their lives.</div>
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As a teacher, I come in contact with many students. Most are just faces in a moving stream of humanity, but once in a while one stands out.</div>
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My heart is broken--for his family, and for the loss to the rest of the world. Every death is difficult, but the death of a young person--unbearable. The same can be said for all my other dead men. We are poorer each time we lose one.</div>
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When a child in particular stands out like a beacon, the loss is doubly hard. Our country is poorer after every war, after each death. </div>
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Johnnie Marfia, we hardly knew ye.</div>
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-52909784053097651842012-08-01T18:33:00.002-07:002012-08-01T18:33:32.156-07:00I Feel Sorta Like McClellan--<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
History Cat here--Catmom is the WORST!! Nothing but excuses--& she has a ton of them--<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>HARPing the house</li>
<li>2 classes in her Master's class (who are Jomini & Clausewitz, fgs?)</li>
<li>maintenance on the property</li>
<li>finishing the book by adding new research concerning the Republican Convention of 1860 and Colonel Ellsworth (who should have had a cat!!)</li>
<li>writing and researching for that "other" blog, emergingcivilwar.com</li>
<li>paying attention to her gentleman caller (grrrrr)</li>
<li>leveling her Horde Hunter in WoW (as if!)</li>
<li>Oh! School's starting in a week!!</li>
</ul>
<br />
See what I mean? It goes on and on--well, I am taking things into my capable paws from now on. I shall pester & bug her until she gets herself together. I gave her July, but now it's August--ALL FOR THE UNION!<br />
<br />
Three cheers and a tiger, which is sort of like a cat, but bigger.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-38294074747495524102012-07-26T14:55:00.000-07:002012-07-26T14:55:19.287-07:00Summertime, & the livin' is easy . . . even if blogging is NOT!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The image to the left is what I face daily, more or less, during the California summer. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I live in Heaven.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Within a few hours driving is desert, or mountains, or snow, or forest, or city--</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Vineyards abound, as do farms with fresh fruit & veggies. The fog comes in from the ocean in the mornings and evenings, soft and gray, like poems.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is like being suspended in time & space, until school begins again. For these reasons, this blog has been sketchy this summer.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.</i> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">More Chardonnay?</span>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6310909412388725181.post-53171121922097501152012-07-24T11:52:00.002-07:002012-07-24T11:53:17.842-07:00Better late than never--I hope!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yesterday my long-awaited post/interview of Harry Katz went up on emergingcivilwar.com.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">His book is just wonderful, and worth every penny, so go buy it. We talk a lot about <i>bias</i> in my Master's classes, and it is books like this one that help me form my opinion: bias is great!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No, I don't believe that publishing books denying the Holocaust is fine, but I do think that passion for a topic, often misinterpreted as bias, is just fine.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Were it not for the passion/bias of Mr. Katz, and his belief that people need to see these images and learn about the men who created them, we would all be far poorer in our knowledge.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A historian has to believe in what she does, and she needs to work very hard to make people care about the things she loves. This is NOT the same as plainly twisting information to make a point, or trumpeting as facts information that is contradictory. This is bias, and poor history as well.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But this book? Oh no! This is a labor of love and respect--we should ALL be biased in favor of those two qualities, no matter the topic.</span>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07847984710343694012noreply@blogger.com1