Today

No. Not today, but back then.

It was a nice time. 2019. France  

I think it was the 

Restaurant le Carré d'Art, Nimes

Philip Glass and My Mother

I brought Philip Glass to campus for a presentation. Some time ago. A colleague and I did a short interview on our NPR affiliate about the visit. We played excerpts from the composer's music. 

"My mother would enjoy this," I thought to myself and sent her a copy.

Going through her things recently, I came across the cassette I sent. On the envelope my mother had written "Killing hogs I think."

Milton Puryeur killing hogs on his land. Marion Post Wolcott, Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration

Obedience

 

I sold that snapshot. I am sorry. It is a good one and a fine moral lesson. I should have kept the photograph and tacked it above my desk as a reminder and guilt-inducer to stay on track with my tasks. 

And this weekend, last one in March 2024, I discovered that I had a second copy. 

Money Changing

June 11, 2018

San Francisco. Visit. Early morning. Thought to myself: I probably need to change money. SF is another country. And that's good. 

Blue

Overheard at Magritte exhibition at SFMOMA: "We should use that blue in our hallway"

Finland Reads

If, however, Finland has been rated the world’s most literate country, it may also have something to do with a 19th-century decree that a couple could not marry in the Lutheran church before both passed a reading test. “Quite an incentive,” observes Halonen, “to learn to read.”

Safe, happy and free: does Finland have all the answers? | World news | The Guardian

Found

Found

The flu can kill millions. In 1918, a pandemic was fueled by World War I. - The Washington Post

The flu can kill millions. In 1918, a pandemic was fueled by World War I. - The Washington Post

My mother was eight years old when the pandemic spread to rural Alabama and the farm that the family cultivated. Mama was the only person in the family who did not contract the flu. She was the only caregiver for the family. She remembered that she had to rotate and change bedpans for the patients. Her father gave her instruction on feeding the farm animals. She was a brave little girl.

Aroma of Sounds

Were you able to breathe through your ears, presumable you could sense the aromas of sounds. 

Don't Remember, Don't Know

There's a difference between "don't remember" and "don't know"

Tuscaloosa Wrecking Co.

I enjoy seeing this photograph several times a year.

Walker Evans

Known

Things we used to know changed. Inconsiderate.

Year

Rainer Maria Rilke said of a new year, "And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been."

Unfortunately, I doubt this is going to be one of those years. 

Talking

I'm talking to the glassware if that's your concern.

Hurt

The hurt's gone but not the memory.

Pillows

You can estimate the age of a person by the number of pillows they need.

My Grandparents Allen, Wedding Day

This photograph dates to 1899 and shows my Grandfather and Grandmother Allen (Julius Henry Allen, Lillian Eremine McKinley) on their wedding day. Showing front and back of the card photograph. The notes were made by Lucille Allen

Back of photograph. No month/day has been determined for their 1899 marriage.

This was the second marriage for Julius. His first wife, Josephine Farmer (also known as Mary Josephine and Josie) died 11 May 1897.

Nobody said it was going to be easy

Repeal and Replace
Nobody said it was going to easy

With apologies to a couple of really rational guys. 

My First Calculator

Shame on You!

Congressman Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, owes an apology to radio station KASU and to the countless people who regularly donate to the station.

Crawford’s recent monthly interview on KASU concluded with the congressman telling listeners that Congress ought to ax federal support for public broadcasting. Crawford said this on a public broadcasting station.

As I thought about what I had just heard, I suddenly had a vision of Crawford as a guest, having enjoyed a nice dinner, saying to his host, “Thank you for a very fine dinner. Now, drop dead.”

Shame on you, Crawford.

William J. Allen
Jonesboro

Letter to the editor of the Jonesboro (Arkansas) Sun, February 22, 2017, page 4 (print). Crawford's interview can be heard at http://kasu.org/post/representative-crawford-takes-listener-questions-talks-travel-ban-and-funding