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Cziltang wanders the trackless wastes in search of truth, beauty and personal enlightenment. He had tried to be self-sufficient, growing his own ideas, but they withered and died in the great intellectual drought that gripped the land in his youth. One day, as he gazed at the parched landscape around him, he realized that somewhere there must be ideas growing. Somewhere, rational discourse must still survive. Since that day, he has searched for a mythical land of fields and forests of living ideas. Now and again he finds a thought or two in the rubble of an occasional deserted outpost of civilization. Its a hard way to live and its not much of a life, but that's just how it is, out here in the Ratlands |
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Historical Trivia
link My father has been a history buff since long before I was around. When I was a kid, we used to stop at every roadside historical marker we passed while on the road. I've been to historical museums in most of the states I've been to. Dad made a point of taking us to the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas and the Truman Library in Missouri. I find out now that he missed one in Kansas. On March 4, 1849, James K. Polk's term as president expired, as did that of his vice-president, George Dallas. March 4 was a Sunday that year. Because he was a devout Christian, the newly elected president, Zachary Taylor refused to take the oath of office until Monday. So, for 23 and a half hours, beginning at noon on March 4, 1849, David Rice Atchison (president pro-tem of the Senate) was the acting President of the United States. Atchison later described his term in office as "the honestest administration this country ever had," perhaps because he slept most of the day. Later, Atchison was involved in the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. He also led pro-slavery forces into the Kansas Territory. The town of Atchison, Kansas is named for him. The David R. Atchison Presidential Library (billed as the nation's smallest) is located in the Atchison County Historical Society Museum. According to the Wichita Eagle of Sept. 13, 2004 (where I got the information for this post) the library consists of a "portrait of Atchison and a Colt pistol he carried." Looks like a road trip may be in order this fall. by CziltangPosted: Thursday, September 16 2004 12:03:50 AM
Improbable solutions
link The mystery of the missing fish has been solved. Although it was quite a bit of fun to speculate on the cats conspiring to lift the aquarium lid, it turns out the missing fish apparently has a problem with spatial relations. More to the point, it swam under some marble-type things at the bottom of the tank and got stuck. The marbles are dark blue, the fish is black, so we didn't see him for 8 days. Rat Jr. was cleaning the tank and discovered him yesterday. Other than being a bit hungry, he seems OK. Still, the cat theory was more fun... by CziltangPosted: Tuesday, September 14 2004 11:03:21 PM |
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