Mark Twain's Octagonal Study

It has fascinated me since I found about it in a PBS special about him, which I have on videotape. It resides now on the campus of Elmira College. I talked about it briefly today, and found a link to send to a colleague, but I decided it was as good as a time as any to post it up here, with a bunch of pictures. Some of them are links to their sources, so click with abandon!

I would love to build this in my back yard!

 During the summer of 1874, Susan presented Twain with a study in the shape of a steam boat pilot’s house.  Twain wrote about the study to his friends Joe and Harmony Twitchell:

 - Susie Crane has built the loveliest study for me you ever saw.  It is octagonal, with a peaked roof, each octagon filled with a spacious window, and it sits perched in complete isolation on top of an elevation that commands leagues of valley and city and retreating ranges of distant hills. It is cozy nest, with just room in it  for a sofa and a table and three or four chairs and when the storms sweep down the remote valley and the lightening flashes above the hills beyond, and the rain beats on the roof over my head, imagine the luxury of it! It stands 500 feet above the valley and 2 ½ miles from it.

This is its original location, it seems.

Mark Twain Study. Inside in USA

Some More Friday things

I like this ad, actually. Maybe not the Things described (although I could be swayed), but here's the whole ad:

1973 VW Thing Pair of Two Type 181 - $1100 (Annandale, VA)

I will assume that if you opened this Craigslist ad you know what a VW Thing is. I have two of them, both in non-running condition, with title. Both 1973 and the last active registrations for both were in Oklahoma in 1992. Since 1992 they have been transported to Pennsylvania, Delaware and since 2000 both have been in Virginia. One is currently garaged and one is covered in my driveway. 

I want to be clear, these are projects, not driveable cars. 

Manual transmission, no air conditioning, air-cooled vw engine. 

Both will, at a minimum, need tops (they have tops, but in need of repair or replacement), floorboard repair, tires and batteries in addition to the usual work required of cars that have not been driven in more than 20 years (although the garaged one was run--not driven--in 1999). 

Only one has the original gasoline eberspracher heater. 

Two tow bars are included with the sale. One tow bar mounts to the bumper and the other tow bar is the type that attaches to the front axle of a vw. 

The vehicles are located in Annandale, VA inside the beltway. They can be shown on a nice day (seemingly rare lately!). 

Pictures, where are the pictures? Well, when the weather gets nicer, I suppose I can take some pictures but, until then, no pictures so please don't ask. If you're seriously interested, you can make arrangements to come take a look with your own eyeballs. 

The price is for the pair and not splitting them up so please don't ask if you can purchase just one. If one's good, two is even better!

All initial coordination will be done by email. There will be time to talk on the phone or in-person later.


Two cars for $1100 (which I don't have, but still....) isn't a bad deal. I will check back for photos!

Next, in Ocala Florida, $3500. If I find a pile of cash, this is on my route home from spring break! Dreaming, that's not gonna happen!

I generally prefer Things stock, or close, but this one (which is pretty close to stock) is cool, at $8500:

..."it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Add this to the list of reasons I will never be a democrat, or a liberal:

"Senate hold global warming all-nighter"

"The last time that Congress seriously attempted to address climate change was in 2009, before the GOP took control in the House. Democrats in that chamber narrowly passed a bill to cap carbon emissions. It never made it through the Senate, and in the end, the effort was thought to have contributed to Democrats’ losses in 2010.

Which explains why some concerned Democrats feel an urgent need to launch a talkathon – which is really a media campaign (follow it on #Up4climate). It also explains why some Democrats will be safely tucked in their beds while one of their colleagues makes an impassioned plea to the C-SPAN camera."

Seriously, folks, they have the Senate, so if they wanted to actually do something they could, right? It's not they actually wrote a bill that needed fillibuster or something. Just another Dem dog and pony show, and you know that the believers were eating it up. 

Bucket List

So, I should be working. (actually, that would be a great title for another blog or website).

I watched Casey Neistat stuff, not even sure how I ended up doing that. Then, there's yesterday's post about VW Things.

I've pointed out this young lady's tumblr before. Lots of cool images about stuff I like right there.

Huckberry always gets me motivated.

So, the list. The bucket list. It's also on Pinterest, sorta. *reminder to link to that later*

I am 48 year 7 months 9 days old, 17,756 days to be exact, and I've done a lot of things. Let's see, a brief list includes travels to Haiti, East (and West Germany), Canada, Ireland England and Scotland, Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Wall SD, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, LA, San Diego, NYC, Baltimore, Virginia Beach, Washington DC, McKinney Texas, all over Florida, Gatlinburg and the Smokys, BWCAW, Madison WI, Grand Traverse bay, Mackinac Island, Disney World and Disneyland, ok?

I've skied a bunch (not enough), played guitar a bunch, I was an Irish step-dancer, been the lead in a musical, choired all over the place, taught horseback riding, canoed, rock climbed, hiked and camped. I even did a triathlon

Never been to the Pacific Northwest or the Atlantic Northeast. Mexico. Asia. Greece. Paris. North Dakota. Plenty of places yet to visit.

Here's where I really want to go: South Pacific, including New Zealand and Australia. Greece. Rural France. the Black Sea. Siberia (really, it intrigues me). The Canadian Maritimes. Seattle and Maine.

I kinda learned how to surf in Ireland in 1988, I'd like to do that more seriously. So, Hawaii would be nice.
I want to learn scuba.
Get my motorcycle endorsement.
Concealed carry, just to be legal, I don't even really want to own a gun, however.
Skydive/hang glide
Become a functional piano player
Learn a new string instrument, mandolin, or ukelele maybe. Get better at the ones I already know.
Do stand-up once.
Be in a band.
Sing in front of a large audience, again.
Write and publish a novel, or a collection of short work.
Lose a few pounds. Not exactly a 'bucket list' item for most, but it is for me.
Own and regularly drive a VW Thing. (duh)

I'll keep adding.

Bored, So, Things....

Okey Dokey, I should be working, but here are some things for today. As always, don't forget to check out The Samba.com

The one that was for sale locally is gone, sadly, but here are some contenders: damaged, but cheap ($3000)

$2500 is Cheap, but not running and faaaaar away from me, like the first one:

This one has been hanging around on CL for a while, with several different links, and photos and prices.....

1974 VW THING
Needs body work
runs
White with Green Fenders
BLACK SEATS
No top
Collectible
$3.600.00
FIX UP BIG $$$ RETURN
NO E-MAILS OR TEX ONLY PHONE CALLS
JOE (239) 249-0128

I've posted it before, too.

 $3800

 or $3600

Santa Fe has this to offer at $2000:

and lastly, the closest one to me, pretty fairly priced at $3950

Here's a $500 thing that needs floors and tires and.... Pictures are so bad, I'm not posting any.

I Am Such A Geek, Sometimes.

So, there's a new Cadillac commercila running about entrepreneurs, starting in gargages, and somehow that relates to owning a Cadillac, BUT

I saw this "Amazon started in a garage..."

and immediately thought: "that's Marty McFly's house!"

I was close, but not correct. This is Marty McFly's house, similar style, just not the same house or location!

Oh well!

Priming for Educational Success

I totally need to write a book called "Priming for Educational Success" or, how to use the psychological and behavioral "priming" to help students learn, succeed, and just be smarter....

Seriously. Starting to collect data now.

Winter. It Happens Every Year.

So, WKRC just called this the "winter of our discontent" and is busy now with the Wicked Winter Weather graphic doing a story on Winter Weather Fatigue Setting In. How long will it last? When will it end? (To her credit, after all the gloom, Angenette Levy did say it was beautiful as the poor thing did her live bit from outside).

Seems like I have experienced Winter every year, and every year, without fail, it ends, and Spring arrives. Every year. Yes, it's cold. It's winter. Spring will come.

Am I the only one that is more sick of people complaining about the weather than the weather itself?

My Mom said not to waste any energy complaining about the weather, you can't do anything about it other than dress appropriately. We also used to sit on the porch and watch storms, because it was cool seeing the trees blow and the rain fall. She also said, as I do, that Cincinnati is a great place because we get all 4 seasons. It is!

Not everyone agrees, and everyone can't move to their preferred climate. I get that. Wallowing in your discontent is, however, not helping you feel better, is it?

One last weather anecdote. Larry Valmore (UMYF counselor, leader, role model) used to tell the story of delivering papers, and how miserable he was on those early mornings when he sat on the tailgate in the rain, throwing papers. One day, he accepted the fact that he was going to get wet, and getting wet wasn't a big deal anymore.

It's winter. It gets cold in the winter. Spring will come.