Uncreative Destruction of Harvard Square

Creative destruction = Joseph Schumpeter’s account of capitalism’s dynamism based on innovation and the destruction and abandonment of the old.
I’m just the 10,001st person to complain about it in print, but Harvard Square has become an outdoor mall.  What’s distressing is not just the loss of all the old book stores, record stores, cafes and [...]

Renys Disappearing Wife mystery

R.H. Reny, the founder of Maine department store chain Renys, died last week.
We got really into the Ellsworth Renys a couple years ago.  My favorite items (this was the year the girls were three) were coloring books marked down to 99 cents.  They have a little of everything, clothes, food, drug store stuff, all cheap.  [...]

Netflix/ Movie Roundup

I can No Longer Hear the Guitar. One of those movies that was on the Netflix queue but now I can’t remember exactly what led me to it.  It’s a 1991 Phillipe Garrell movie based on his ten-year affair with Nico (the German model/ original Velvet Underground singer).  What was disconcerting is that the Nico [...]

Mount Desert Island Consumerism

A visit to Mt Desert Island is obviously all about Acadia National Park, the ocean, lakes, hiking trails, etc.   But I thought it would be fun, as we near the conclusion of a long stay, to comment on some of the consumer options available here.
Terrible crap in Bar Harbor.  Needless to say, you have to [...]

Bass fishing with pink Barbie rod

I was very into fishing here on the pond in Maine from about age 9-14 or so.  Partly because it was the only way to have any time to myself, I’m sure.  As I recall it, there was a lot of dedication and work expended per fish in those days.  I was always fussing about [...]

Down East Flying Trap-eze Girls

The girls were invited to perform as Down East Flying Trap-eze girls on a lobster trap float in the Southwest Harbor annual Pink Flamingos day parade (supposedly a resident invented the pink flamingo, although I have an idea this is one of those contested copyrights).  This was perhaps the highlight of the Maine experience for [...]

Lost Teeth

We’ve already lost two teeth here in Maine in the last week or so.  (These are lost teeth #2 and #3 for the twins – Iris lost one a couple months ago).
Celie lost hers last week.  We put it in a plastic baggie, thumb-tacked to the wall for safe-keeping, but she had to get it [...]