Compulsively Aimless

I recently attended the Society of Midwest Historians conference in Des Moines, Iowa, and it got me thinking about how we came to define the Midwest. Here are a few of my incomplete thoughts on the region stimulated by the two-day conference. Before the region had a name, European settlers in the East generally referred to the land west of the Allegheny Mountains as the “Frontier.” But in 1787, the land north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River was designated as the “ Northwest” by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This region included Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the northeastern portion of Minnesota. As the United States expanded westward, the term “Old Northwest” emerged to distinguish it from the Pacific Northwest. But the territory of the Northwest Ordinance remained the starting point for what we now call the Midwest. Interestingly, the physical starting point of the region is represented by historical markers in East Liverpool, Ohio, where ...

  With the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, it’s worth a look back at the St. Paul native’s Midwest roots and how they appear in his most famous work. 
Introduction As a story teller of the Jazz Age and its later disillusionment, Fitzgerald also created a subtle regional distinction in his literary landscapes. For Fitzgerald, the American Midwest served as the foundation of his characters' origins, a place of inherent morality and traditional values. By contrast, the allure of the East Coast, particularly New York, represented the object of his characters' aspirations, a realm of wealth and glamour that ultimately led to their moral and emotional undoing. (New York City and Long Island can often be seen as what he means by the East .) By contrasting the values he attributed to these regions, Fitzgerald explored the corrosive effects of unchecked ambition and the recognition of what was lost in its pursuit. The geographic contrast of Midwest and East is m...

*Benjamin Franklin's response to Elizabeth Willing Powel's question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"   I'm a collector of quotes. I truly find them to be concentrations of great wisdom and I suppose that's what makes a good quote endure--it holds up over time. With the turmoil that's going on in our country and the larger world lately, I've gone back to my collection of quotes for a little wisdom and guidance. I'm sharing a few favorites that are timely.  "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."                                                                                              ...

Every few months, I clear the scraps out of my journal and put them outside for your amusement. Here's a few just in time for Black Friday Clearance.  Our prices are insane.   Timing is Everything You feel it in your bones Time to let the dogs roam Time to quit throwing stones Time for boys and girls to come home Time for a grandson to pick up the phone. Sun Watcher Travel east to see where the sun rises Travel west to see where the sun sets Travel north or south      to see if it will reach you high or low.   Quiet Clam up Pipe down Shut up   The Battle of Yellow No. 2 Ft. Ticonderoga My weapon struggles to cross the blank pages and the scale the heights of meaning only to lose the element surprise and forfeit my dreams of glory.   Orange to Black   Orange sunset-- you get a couple of moments of color before the big black of night.   Follow Your Dreams   Dreams can be balloons that pull you up to the clouds      or l...

  Horological Aristocrat             a Cento All the clocks tik but a grandfather clock talks he is always companionable never obvious his words blend with the mood of the moment When the mind begins to tire he seems to say "Don't press, have a rest." but the evening, he says softly, "Forget, relax." He is quietly persistent but never monotonous murmuring, he gives a sense of well-being and pleasant detachment from the thing we call progress. Source: Old Clocks: For Modern Use,  with a Guide to Their Mechanism, Edward Wenham

  Thanksgiving Traveler Some souls travel as radio and TV forecasters warn of heavy rain in the Pacific Northwest and snow in the higher elevations. Some souls at home search  for family recipes from the comfort of a messy kitchen while outside their window, oak trees shake in the same gusty winds that bring icy conditions to the upper Midwest. What is it about Thanksgiving where there is a certain ritual rejoicing about travel, traffic, and bad weather? We celebrate the sacrament as pilgrim and host. Every traveler is on a hero's journey a shared struggle from the Mayflower to the driveway arrival where we sit down together hold hands and say a blessing.  

    The madness continues in the pointless exercise to generate band names. Today, I'm repurposing mathematical terms. Geometry alone would supply enough band names for the next generation.  Here are some of my favorites. Higher Math Bands   Absolute Value Arbitrarily Large Binomials Coefficients Common Factors Cube Roots Fibonacci Sequence Denominators/Numerators (must perform together) Derivatives Empty Set Exponents Floor Function Ideal Theory Imaginary Unit Initial Conditions Improper Fractions Irrational Integers MeanMedianMode Natural Numbers Obtuse Angles Probabilities Standard Unit Subset Tensor Product X-Intercept Geometric Bands Angle of Depression Annulus Bisectors Center of Rotation Circular Functions Glide Reflection Major Arc Ordered Triple Pappus's Theorem Platonic Solids Sector of a Circle Self-Similarity Standard Position Zero Dimensions