Winter Wonderland

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?

The Bergquists At Christmas

There are a few things that are more-or-less given at the holiday season. One is that you will get socks and underwear from your grandparents (if you are lucky enough to still have them around to give you gifts), another is that someone is bound to wax nostalgic for the movie A Christmas Story, and one is that every theater guild in the world, and television station will insist on totting out the Dickens in one or more of its incarnations. To that short, but inevitable, list I wish to add the perennial return of The Bergquist Christmas Eve Story. Perhaps one day this will be as loved/reviled (take your pick) as any other holiday classic. 

I have told this story to friends and family for years and even posted it on my blog a few times. Every year, someone asks me to tell the story again, and every year I get emails asking if I am going to post the story again to my blog. The answer to both questions is "yes." So, here it is. 

Greetings From Frost Lake!

Ten Years...

My first blog post from Thames Ditton, UK

My, how time flies!

Huh!? How's That?

There is a phrase I keep hearing in the media and reading in the news and for the life of me, I cannot parse what they are saying. The words alone are pretty clear but the meaning of the phrase is completely beyond me. The phrase I keep hearing is “Throw the bums out.”

The Gunpowder Plot

"Remember, remember; the 5th of November; Gunpowder Treason and Plot; I see no reason
why Gunpowder, Treason;
ever should be forgot."

~ Traditional Rhyme

Head Shaking

During the 2010 State Of The Union Address (January 27, 2014) Supreme Court Justice, Sam Alito, shook his head when the President claimed in his speech that their recent “Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission” decision had opened “the floodgates for special interests –- including foreign corporations –- to spend without limit in our elections.” Besides being unspeakably rude it has also proven to be almost wholly untrue.

Greetings From Frost Lake!

How To Paint A Still Life In Three Easy Steps

Today, as a public service – I present an educational piece (that’s right! NO POLITICS!) on how paint a still life in three easy steps. Follow these three easy steps and you too can be an artist!

Settle Down, Everyone!

It is a shame that the political right in this country has chosen to use the recent couple of deaths from the Ebola virus as a talking point when they are far from in the clear as far as health care is concerned.

Does This Really Surprise Anyone!?

Okay, perhaps this should be filed in the "WELL DUH!" file, but yes, as bad as it is, a recent study confirmed that there is a "news source" that is less accurate than Faux News!

OH, GROW UP!!!

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – I HATE LIVING IN A “BATTLEGROUND STATE!”

Children!

That’s It! I’ve Sussed it! I have finally put my finger on why all these damned political ads REALLY bother me so much! I had my epiphany this morning, watching ads for one of the local races battle it out for an entire break!

George Orwell: A Man Before His Time

“Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power”

~ George Orwell

1984