writing – The Haus of Dcaligari

Henrik Ibsen

March 20, 1828 –Let’s raise a toast of aquavit to the playwright Henrik Ibsen, born in Skien on this date. He was, at one point, a small-time cherry herring bootlegger and an assistant stage manager for a new theater, where it was his job to produce a new drama each year based on Norway’s gloriousContinue reading “Henrik Ibsen”

Happy Lunar New Year!

The Lunar New Year begins today, and it is the Year of the Horse — but which one? The Lunar New Year is often celebrated with parades, family gatherings, red envelopes, and (sometimes enthusiastically) the lighting of firecrackers for days afterward. Both the animal sign and the element of your birth year are said toContinue reading “Happy Lunar New Year!”

There’s a sort of delightful menace in the air.

The name November comes from the Latin “novem” which is the Latin for the nine. In the early Roman calendar, it was the ninth month. According to the Gregorian calendar, November is the eleventh month of the year. Go figure. The Roman Senate elected to name the eleventh month for Tiberus Caesar and since AugustusContinue reading “There’s a sort of delightful menace in the air.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

September 24, 1896 ––… Writers aren’t exactly people… they’re a whole bunch of people trying to be one person.. On this date in 1896, a young woman in Minnesota gave birth to a depressive, witty young alcoholic named Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. He did poorly in school and went off to train for war inContinue reading “F. Scott Fitzgerald”

Ernest Hemingway

July 21, 1899 –Ernest Hemingway was born on this date. He was young at the time of his birth. It was fine to be young. He drove an ambulance in World War I. It wasn’t called World War I then. It was just called the war. It was one of those times when people shotContinue reading “Ernest Hemingway”

The longest way round is the shortest way home

Happy Bloomsday! June 16, 1904 –If you notice English majors greeting one another joyously, saying “Yes – yes – yes!” they’ll titter. It will all be terrific fun for them. And here’s the reason why: Today is the date on which all the events depicted in James Joyce’s famous novel Ulysses take place — evenContinue reading “The longest way round is the shortest way home”