Noble Street Festival

Hey, it's a juried event, y'all! By that I think they mean I've been found guilty by a jury of my artistic peers of producing art worthy of exhibiting on a city street--my claims of innocence notwithstanding.

Kidding. I'm happy and proud to be invited. Onliest thing that'll make me happier and prouder is for all y'all to stop by my booth, buy a book or two or three, chew the fat, gitcher pitcher took, and generally have a good time.

So come on by. Make my day. Look for the Little White Cabin banner. I take cash, credit cards, hugs, and kisses.

Wightman's Arithmetical Tables

A marvel from yesteryear:

Among my father's effects from his maritime days I found this little gem, a pocket-sized compendium of math tables, weights and measures, conversion tables, currencies, and even including biblical weights and measures and a list of "Kings and Queens of England since the conquest."

Nowadays, of course, "there's an app for that," albeit without the feel of a worn and softened hand-me-down booklet. It's amazing how detailed and informative this is in such a small package. The odd thing is, in a book that's as dense with data as this is, there's no publication date. Even the title page says "copyright" without giving the date either of the copyright or the publication.

If you sought to come up with such a pocket-sized compendium of the most useful info for a traveler in today's world who finds himself without a smartphone or access to the 'net, what would it include?

Burning Times

"Hey, man! I said 'hold my beer,' not 'drink it.' Damn, son."

One of the pleasures of country living, at least here in Alabama, is the burn pile. Brush, scrap wood, cardboard, nasty ol' blankets, mattresses and carcasses they won't take at the dump... once it gets hot enough, almost anything'll burn. Add a balmy night and a cold beer for a passing hobo and you got a right pleasant way to pass an hour or two.