Monthly Archives: February 2025

The Half-Blood Heir

Posted on February 28, 2025 by smellincoffee

Nathaniel Perry survived the Battle of Waterloo, despite the odds: two thirds of his unit have answered the last post and call, but he got through with just a bullet through the calf. Newly promoted to Major, he’s contemplating his … Continue reading →

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February 2025 in Review

Posted on February 28, 2025 by smellincoffee

Well, hello to the end of another month. I for one welcome March, tornadoes and all: I am very ready for spring! This was an unusual month for me personally because I had no computer for most of it: mine … Continue reading →

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Moviewatch: February 2025

Posted on February 27, 2025 by smellincoffee

My movie-watching buddy is going out of town this weekend, and I anticipate being wholly absorbed by The Sims 2 Legacy Edition Friday night, so I think I’ve watched my last movie for this month. Interestingly, all of my movies … Continue reading →

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Short rounds: politics!

Posted on February 26, 2025 by smellincoffee

As mentioned yesterday I’m feeling burnt out between all the serious stuff I’ve been binging, global affairs, and ongoing drama with my computer (it was finally repaired and sent back from the manufacturer, but arrived in such a state that … Continue reading →

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WWWednesday + Favorite Hobby Prompt

Posted on February 26, 2025 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is “What is your favorite hobby and why?” But first, WWWednesday! WHAT have you finished recently? Both Return of the Great Powers and One No, Many Yeses, late last week. WHAT are you … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday

Posted on February 25, 2025 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is favorite books set in another time, but I read entirely too much historical fiction to want to pore through and pick favorites. I sat facing a flowering bougainvillea that covered the terrace, a showerof pink blossoms on … Continue reading →

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The Mature Flâneur

Posted on February 21, 2025 by smellincoffee

While rooting around for books for The Grand Tour, I spotted ‘flâneur’ and immediately went for the bait. I know this word from back in 2012 when I was an ardent Francophile and was reading books like French Women Don’t … Continue reading →

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Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light

Posted on February 20, 2025 by smellincoffee

Lisbon is a history of how Portugal’s president-dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar carefully navigated between his own Scylla and Charybdis, attempting to keep Portugal out of the Second World War despite its longstanding alliance with England, and the fact that … Continue reading →

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Red Dead’s History

Posted on February 19, 2025 by smellincoffee

As a student of history who also plays a lot of video games which touch on history, I wonder sometimes what skewed version  of history unread players take from it.  Tore Olsson takes that same question and applies it to … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday

Posted on February 19, 2025 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? Just yesterday, I finished reading One No, Many Yeses by Paul Kingsnorth. It’s one of his earlier books, set back when he was still more of an activist than a mystic-farmer-critic. WHAT are you … Continue reading →

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