Memnison Journal

I, as some of you have probably figured out, am a total news junkie.
Yes, it’s true.  However, we don’t subscribe to any newspapers. 99.99% of my news stuff is online.  *If* I end up with a Kindle for Christmas, I’m thinking about subscribing to the NYT, and maybe the WaPost or the Tribune.  But the [...]

Probably of utterly no interest to most of you, but there’s been a recent series in Daytonology on the development of the east side of Dayton, which is my home town.  I spent - well, from 3rd grade till I graduated from college on that side of town, and it’s the Olde Home for me, [...]

A slight correction - Susan is making Pumpkin Pie, the Squash Casserole mentioned in an earlier post, and the Paula Deen version of Oyster Dressing.   Meredith and Connie are helping, and I’m in the basement, making CDs for Marlyce and Connie of some Christmas music Oprah Winfrey had on her show.
As to Pumpkin Pie, Susan [...]

Going back to my response posts,  I want to stress that I never assume that anyone voting against Obama is a racist, or that Republicans are racists, or that either on the Republican ticket is a racist.  I know better.
I’ve lived with serious racists, had racism and sexism used against me and mine (you do [...]

TV Land on cable is doing a set of great catchphrases on TV over the years (special on this is in December).  Here’s part of the list, with the ones I know well bolded (mostly showing how old I am):

My first exposure to computers was in high school; there was a teletype terminal to the Dayton School System’s mainframe, and you could run paper tape programs through it, and it was seated in Mr. Goubeaux’s room (the guy who taught the more advanced math classes).
Goubeaux was something like Mr. Ratburn on ARTHUR; demanding, not [...]

A little while ago, I was mentioning that there was a particular deal on scanning old photos, and folks had asked me for the details.
The outfit is ScanMy Photos.com; the offer is found at this link.
This was a photo taken of RJ Johnson by Mark Evans at our wedding; they scanned it at about 300 [...]

My great hero in freshman year at my high school was Tim Langley; a great actor, well-spoken, intelligent, kind, a fighter for the underdog, and just in general an admirable guy. He was well-chosen in my freshman (and his senior) year to play Cyrano De Bergerac…and he was also the news editor on the [...]

At this point (fall of 1973), I’m the editorial editor for the high school paper, and my, I was a lot more conservative in those days in a lot of ways.  This paper brings up two items that were controversial in the day, and aren’t uncommon anymore…
First, the reaction to the Board of Education mandating [...]

Another clip from my high school paper (December 1972) on the development of beards and mustaches and the like at the school when it was still very very much frowned on by the adults in the area as ‘hippie crap’.  I had longish bushy curly hair my freshman year and finally grew sideburns in my [...]

Piece from my high school newspaper about a Black Panther who was brought in by a civics teacher to talk to the class.  Quite a shocker to the kids; it may read like something in the Onion to the younger folks here, but - well, this was 1971, and a poll in the same issue [...]

CONGENIAL, the con I started up in the late 1980s, has tried to maintain a standard of uniqueness over the years.  Here’s a few of the badges from our collection from the earlier years….

Another item from my past - from a late 1962 or early 1963 issue of FATE Magazine, a letter from my mother (an avid subscriber) to the editor about early baby-tooth loss. Mine. Including my encounter with a ghostly lion.
I don’t remember the encounter exactly so, but I do remember being in a [...]

My mom, Jackie Randolph, was a multi-talented character; she was a veterinarian, had a fine arts degree (in art, but she was an good singer and pianist) and probably the person who inspired me the most in practically any intellectual pursuit - including history, politics, being a news junkie, and so on.  List is very [...]

However, for a very limited time, this PDF extract from American Heritage magazine about the origins and life of the Tiki Bar craze.  tiki_bars (PDF, 4.5 Mb)
Don’t say that I never tried to educate y’all.