“Beyond those hints, a selvage line indicates the fabric’s origin of manufacture — France — which is also the origin point for the draperies Dolley had made for the White House.

‘There is no silk damask to be had in either New York or Philadelphia, and I am therefore forced to give you crimson velvet curtains. Architect Benjamin Latrobe to Dolley, 1809.’”

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Susan Stafford Kelly, “Dolley Madison’s Red Velvet Dress is Our Scarlet Mystery,” Our State magazine

“Beyond those hints, a selvage line indicates the fabric’s origin of manufacture — France — which is also the origin point for the draperies Dolley had made for the White House. ‘There is no silk damask to be had in either New York or Philadelphia, and I am therefore...

A society becomes totalitarian when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial: that is, when its ruling class has lost its function but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud. Such a society, no matter how long it persists, can never afford to become either tolerant or intellectually stable. It can never permit either the truthful recording of facts or the emotional sincerity that literary creation demands.

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George Orwell, “The Prevention of Literature”(1946)

A society becomes totalitarian when its structure becomes flagrantly artificial: that is, when its ruling class has lost its function but succeeds in clinging to power by force or fraud. Such a society, no matter how long it persists, can never afford to become either...

“While he acknowledged that ‘everybody got coronavirus,’ Lapp defended the community’s approach: ‘It’s a worse thing to quit working than dying…’
About a year after the coronavirus pandemic first broke out in the U.S., national news outlets and The Associated Press wire service reported that the Lancaster County Amish community had reached herd immunity, meaning that ‘a large part of the population had been infected with COVID-19 and became immune.’ However, precise data is difficult to come across because the Amish were hesitant to publicize coronavirus cases in their community.”
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Ryan Foley for The Christian Post

"While he acknowledged that 'everybody got coronavirus,' Lapp defended the community’s approach: 'It’s a worse thing to quit working than dying...' About a year after the coronavirus pandemic first broke out in the U.S., national news outlets and The Associated Press...

My Engagement Story

My Engagement Story

Joshua Sheik and I first learned of each other’s existence when he found my writing online. We’re not entirely certain how this happened, but in September of 2013 he was seeking press for the premiere of his first feature film and sent me a message on Facebook...

Commonplace Conversations Now Podcasting!

Commonplace Conversations Now Podcasting!

The audio version of my website is now published on Anchor and syndicated across multiple platforms. The expanding list of outlets includes:     Spotify Pocket Casts Breaker Google Podcasts RadioPublic I sometimes slightly edit the articles to make them...

A Daughter and a Son

A Daughter and a Son

Our little manchild was technically due September 9th, but I briefly entertained the notion of him holding out until the historically significant date of September 17th - Constitution Day. However, the morning of September 10th, I told Joshua I didn’t think I was...

New Times, New Design

New Times, New Design

I'm not sure how many of you have still kept up with my relatively quiet website over the past few years. Besides my lack of regularity in posts, part of the dent in my readership is likely due to my website for so long being difficult to read on mobile devices....