The New Academic Scribblers

 When I studied economics (a lifetime ago), I actually read The General Theory of Employment,...

Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.

- William Blake

Behind the Locked Door
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Home Cooking

Home Cooking

[Click on highlighted links for videos and more information.] In the 70s we had Opal’s Silver Spoon Café on the Lily Tomlin show and Mel’s Diner in ALICE. Today these have morphed into the Food Network. A pinch and a shake are no longer the norm. Recipes are...

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Channeling Charles Péguy

Channeling Charles Péguy

There was a man, a Frenchman, you wouldn’t know about him, my child. . .He was a good man, a holy man, and he lived in sin all through his life, because he couldn’t bear the idea that any soul could suffer damnation. . .This man decided that if any soul was going to...

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My Week With Pierre Trudeau

My Week With Pierre Trudeau

NOTE:  Click on the highlighted links for sources and further information. Pierre and Justin Trudeau, the father and son Prime Minister team, were blessed with good luck as well as good looks. When Trudeau the elder ran for PM of Canada, Nixon and Humphrey were...

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The Wanda Tinasky Affair

The Wanda Tinasky Affair

There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of...

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Oliver Sacks in Oaxaca

Oliver Sacks in Oaxaca

Written over fifteen years ago, Oliver Sacks’ Oaxaca Journal is still one of the best books for visitors to Oaxaca. I was confused to read that one reviewer thinks that: “Sacks did not go into the depth I might have expected based on the insight he displayed in...

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A House Divided

A House Divided

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the...

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The Trickster: Clifford Irving in Oaxaca

The Trickster: Clifford Irving in Oaxaca

It was Mark Twain who said “truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn’t.”  Mark Twain could have been speaking about Clifford Irving’s Howard Hughes hoax that's based on a true adventure.  Anyone will...

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The Last Zapotec Princess

The Last Zapotec Princess

The executioner lifts the macuahuitl and points it toward the sky.  Donaji lays on the stone altar, her neck extended, slightly bent, fully exposed to the powerful thrust she knows is to come.  She is a Zapotec Princess, the last.  She will give her life for her...

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Some Traditional Markets of Oaxaca

Some Traditional Markets of Oaxaca

NOTE:  ALL MARKET PICTURES IN THIS POST WERE TAKEN AT THE FRIDAY MARKET AT EL LLANO BENITO JUAREZ PARK UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED.   Oaxaca abounds with traditional markets.  The grand market of the city, Central de Abastos, was brilliantly described by D.H....

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Restaurant Review:  Tobaziche

Restaurant Review: Tobaziche

Tobaziche (WEBSITE) is a great little find in Oaxaca, just a few blocks from the beautiful Santo Domingo Church, right across the street from the historic Quinta Real hotel at 307 Cinco de Mayo.  We stumbled onto this restaurant a year ago after a rousing performance...

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Lapiztola

Lapiztola

"A punk is someone who knows how to ask the world uncomfortable questions and does everything possible to make sure the world can't cop out of answering those questions. A punk is a person who lives and breathes astonishment. Astonishing other people and astonishing...

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A Personal Mezcal Tasting

A Personal Mezcal Tasting

A mezcal tasting is a beautiful thing.  I hope you have your chance.  I interspersed quotes from some of my favorite authors throughout this essay in the hope of inspiring you to grab at the opportunity should it arise.Qué bonito y qué bonito How nice, I say how nice,...

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