Hi guys: I got a question from a reader this morning, and my answer was long (because anything historical automatically becomes complicated). If you’ve read the Once and Future Hearts series, you might also be interested in the answer, so here it is. I have a question: why was switching sword/knife hands during battle considered […]
Why was Fighting With the Left Hand So Dishonorable? Read More »
I’m stretching the fact just a touch. It’s actually only National Chocolate Cake Day in the United States, but c’mon…! It’s chocolate cake. Do you need a better excuse than someone, somewhere made a national day out of it? And to celebrate the day, I’m posting here my mother-in-law’s chocolate cake recipe, which is simple and
Today is National Chocolate Cake Day. Read More »
I’m ironically aware that as this post goes live, Australia Day in Australia is all over and done with, thanks to the International Date Line. But it’s Australia Day where I am, so I’m doing the salute, sans the tinny. ‘on yer, mate. ________________________
Australia Day 2019 Read More »
When I first started writing for Ellora’s Cave, way back when, the covers they gave me for my books sucked like a vacuum. I’m not being mean. They really did suck. In those days, the new electronic publishing industry didn’t understand how critical covers were for readers. Although I cringe to do this, I am going
A Gift Idea for the Impossible-to-Buy-For Person In Your Life Read More »
Atlas Obscura reported recently that “50 Escaped Baboons Shut Down a Paris Zoo“, which caught my eye. We’re currently working our way through the three Planet of the Apes reboot movies and the post on Obscura made me think of the scene in the first movie when all the apes escape the experimental labs and
Life Imitating Art Read More »
Another anniversary date I didn’t want to omit acknowledging. Western Australia Day was called Foundation Day when I was a kid, and we always had special assemblies on the day. The name was changed to Western Australian day in the 1990s, after I left Australia, as the old name had come to be considered insensitive
Western Australia Day Read More »
This weird little factoid made me pause: Abraham Lincoln is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, because he only lost once in over 300 matches. Wow. Commenting as a non-American, I have to say that is not the usual image of Abraham Lincoln that seeps across the national borders. The man clearly had dimensions.
You THINK You Know Someone… Read More »
Sorry about the click-bait headline. I usually don’t resort to them but in this case it’s absolutely justified and I promise to deliver. In full. We’re always weeks behind the rest of the world in our TV viewing. So it has taken us a while to get around to watching Planet Earth II by the BBC,
This Will Horrify You. Guaranteed. Read More »
I love cracking open a new program and getting to know it. Playing around with the buttons and menus and figuring out how to get the program to do what I want is enormous fun. It scratches my curiousity bump and taps my creativity in completely different ways from story-telling. Most people I know can
A New Skill Set to Make Life Interesting. Read More »