by Kevin Burton Uh-oh, I think I may be archaic. Our friends at Merriam-Webster dictionary served up a timely platter of cookies this week, a list of “archaic” words we know from Christmas songs. Well I just used one of these words last week on Page 7! In order to keep this …
Category Archives: literature
These Palindromes Get You Coming And Going
by dictionaryscoop.com We all remember palindromes from our childhood years. Funny sentences that read the same forward as backward. Some are short, some incredibly long, and while some do make sense, most of them are surrealist, to say the least. From the whimsical “A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!” to the succinct …
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Producers Of Braille Are Touching Lives
by Kevin Burton Today we touch on two stories about braille being produced from unexpected sources. NBC Connecticut ran a story about female inmates at York Correctional Facility becoming certified as Braille transcriptionists. Five inmates completed the program Aug. 24. I wish NBC had quoited some of them. But here is part …
Ten Brilliant Facts About Braille
by Kelli Finger (from Mental Floss website) Braille is a tactile system that blind people use to learn to read and write, invented in 1824 by a blind French educator named Louis Braille. He revolutionized an existing writing and reading system that allowed blind people to enjoy books and communication. I certainly don’t know …
“Memphis” And The Poetry Of Chuck Berry
by Kevin Burton You knew any rock and roll road trip would have to stop by Memphis, right? Well, we are using a Chuck Berry vehicle to get there. We’re going Coast to Coast this summer, talking rock and roll history by means of songs with a state or city in the title. …
A Writer Chronicles His Loss Of Vision
by Robert Ito New York Times In 2019, Andrew Leland began writing a book about blindness, even as he was going steadily blind himself. Working as his vision deteriorated gave him an insider’s perspective — who better to write about the blind than the blind? — but, as he learned, also made writing …
A Funny Thing About Technology
by Kevin Burton Technology is a problem solver. Technology is a problem. Am I right or wrong? “Tech-savvy” is a hyphenated adjective that shouldn’t be used to modify certain nouns, such as, for example, “Kevin Burton” Like it or not we all live in a sea of technology. It’s sink or …
Words For Your Wild, Carefree, Summer
by Kevin Burton Summer has not arrived but planning for summer has. Our friends at Merriam-Webster have provided some words that may or may not describe your 2023 getaway(s). Frankly, I would avoid some of these, but that’s up to you: Jaunty adjective: sprightly in manner or appearance. When jaunty first came into English use …
“If You Could Read My Mind” Is A Masterpiece
by Kevin Burton The greatest songwriters will leave room in their songs so you can climb in, look around and make yourself at home. Just be careful, there is going to be a mirror in there in the place you least expect. You’re going to see yourself. You’re going to be confronted. If …
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Board Game Beatdown South Dakota Style
by Kevin Burton My wife and I loved our South Dakota-Nebraska vacation last fall. We really didn’t want to come home. On the way home I kept a Nebraska station on the car radio well past the point where we could actually hear it well enough to recognize a song. “Hey, if …