My senior year in high school we took some a trip to Lehigh University, at least those of us in the academic track made the trip. Presumably it was some sort of career day thing, and we were given a choice of several different topics to choose from. I recall that I chose the one … Continue reading Computers and Me
Author: jt
Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sunday September 17, 1967, was my first day at Penn State. I finally got to meet my roommate Dave DeTullio and get settled into room 1008 Pinchot Hall. The first week was orientation week, which meant I got to take some tests to see if I could opt out of certain courses, select my first … Continue reading Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper
Sometime early in the summer of 1967 Leonard Yingst brought the new Beatles album over for me to listen to. I had been following the Beatles ever since they made their American debut on Ed Sullivan’s television show back in 1964, but the only album of theirs that I had ever bought was their first … Continue reading Sgt. Pepper
Femme
Graham Norton has admitted that he sometimes has to pretend to be more enthusiastic about a movie that one of his television show guests is promoting than he really is. On the other hand, sometimes one can tell when his excitement is real. For example, when he invites the same guest to promote the movie … Continue reading Femme
Imagine There’s No Parking
As John Lennon might sing, “Imagine there’s no parking, It’s easy if you try.” In the beginning, parking lots were created to curb chaos on the road. But climate change has turned that dynamic on its head. Since the 1920s a little-known policy called parking minimums has shaped a large facet of American life. In … Continue reading Imagine There’s No Parking
A Trip To Rite Aid
I needed to pick up a prescription so I walked over to the friendly local neighborhood Rite Aid where there were a couple folks ahead of me in the prescription line. So I decided to wait. When the second person got to the window, it soon became clear that she had gone to the wrong … Continue reading A Trip To Rite Aid
Happy Turkey Day!
I’m thankful that I’ve lived during a period of rapid technological change in many areas of our lives. To point out just a few, there’s the Internet, which I first encountered in the mid 80s, long before the web browsers turned it into a visual medium. But then browsers did come along in the 90s, … Continue reading Happy Turkey Day!
Pear Cake
I found some great pears on Ninth Street the other day, so with Thanksgiving nigh upon us, I decided to bake a traditional pear cake. Well, I’m sure it’s a tradition somewhere. The recipe calls for peeled pears, but I don’t bother as I don’t notice the peels once they’re baked. Also, I like to … Continue reading Pear Cake
Got To Get You Into My Life
Perhaps the most joyous song ever penned by The Beatles, “Got To Get You Into My Life” was a “pastiche of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s recent hits for The Supremes” according to Ian MacDonald in Revolution in the Head. Slightly out of his neighbourhood in this idiom, McCartney seems to have had no firm idea of how he wanted … Continue reading Got To Get You Into My Life
A Trip to the State Store
I needed to replenish the vermouth so I went to the local state store. In Pennsylvania the state has a monopoly on hard liquor sales, so most everyone calls the liquor stores, which are owned and operated by the state, state stores. I knew where the vermouth was stocked, but I found that although they … Continue reading A Trip to the State Store