Monthly Archives: January 2014

With snow falling in Maryland, I return for solace to nelsoncarpenter.tumblr.com, one of my favorite blogs, and add an Arthur Leipzig photo reblogged from soulcatcher.com

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Gary Garth McCann

This picture above is from the archives at nelsoncarpenter.tumblr.com and, I believe, his own photograph. As long as we have three fellows in the water, I couldn’t resist adding, below, the three guys diving into the East River. This photograph by Arthur Leipzig is reblogged from … Continue reading →

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Re-reading Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Gary Garth McCann

Afraid my Kindle might run out of juice, I wanted a small book for backup for a recent flight and, because I wanted something light to carry, grabbed off my bookshelves the novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I’d read it at least three times over the … Continue reading →

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Gainsay, meaning “to speak against,” a word encountered in Mary Roberts Rinehart’s 1914 mystery, The After House: when and why do we stop using words?

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Gary Garth McCann

“I think that if she had chosen to say that I had wielded the murderer’s ax on the Ella, I should have gone to the gallows rather than gainsay her.”–from The After House. According to http://www.worldwidewords.org/, most dictionaries consider “gainsay”–meaning “to … Continue reading →

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Newport Beach seen from the Balboa Pier and from the sand. The foothill in the background is Saddleback.

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Gary Garth McCann

Twice a year–Christmas and summer–I return to Orange County. Growing up there, I knew the beach more like a relative than a place. The Pacific is cold, and I stay out of it now, but then I rode the waves–and got turned every way but up–in … Continue reading →

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Santa Fe Super Chief, Amtrak Southwest Chief: Getting ready for bed like a movie star

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Gary Garth McCann

We usually fly to California and return home by train. Getting ready for bed in our roomette as we crossed the southeast corner of Colorado, I thought of all the movie stars of the ’30s and ‘4os who had gotten ready for … Continue reading →

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Dome diner on the Union Pacific City of Los Angeles, competitor to the Super Chief

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Gary Garth McCann

This is the train that was featured in an I Love Lucy episode. Lucy thought a jewel thief was in the room next to theirs and kept pulling the emergency cord, bringing the train to an abrupt halt. Each time … Continue reading →

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