Category Archives: General

Five Days in November

Posted on June 16, 2026 by smellincoffee

In his memoir of working in the Secret Service, Within Arm’s Reach, Dan Emmett said that he was inspired by seeing an agent on television jump onto the presidential convertible during the JFK assassination to join the service. That agent … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday with all the Kennedys

Posted on June 16, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is “bookish wishes”, with an implication that we’re talking about books on our wishlist. I have far too many books to read at the moment as it is (and I mean active interest, like I keep wanting to … Continue reading →

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A Time to Heal

Posted on June 11, 2026 by smellincoffee

What possesses a twenty-year old to read five hundred page biography of a president he knows nothing about? Evidently, I was impressed by his speechwriting. In December 2006, President Ford died, and I was honestly grieved. In my ‘memorial’ post … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday + Best Teacher

Posted on June 10, 2026 by smellincoffee

WWW Wednesday WHAT have you finished reading recently? To Rescue the American Spirit. WHAT are you reading now? A surprise SF title and A Time to Heal by Gerald Ford. Also trying to finish Kennedy and Nixon. Oh, and I … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday, brought you by yet another dead president

Posted on June 9, 2026 by smellincoffee

“Christ, Jerry, isn’t this a wonderful country? Here we can talk about this and you and I can be friends, and eighteen months from now I’ll be going around the country kicking your ass in.”That, I thought, was a one … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday + Long and Short Reviews Prompt

Posted on June 2, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, unique YouTube videos we have seen lately. But first, WWW Wednesday! WWW Wednesday WHAT have you finished reading recently? The Letters of JFK, edited by Martin Sandler. Very nearly finished with Brad … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday

Posted on June 2, 2026 by smellincoffee

“When you talk to [John F. Kennedy] or see him you always have the impression that his big white teeth are ready to bite off a huge hunk of life. There is determination in his green Irish eyes. He has … Continue reading →

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Moviewatch, May 2026!

Posted on June 1, 2026 by smellincoffee

BUCKLE UP! May 2026’s moviewatch is….eclectic. Or, as President Bush might say, eckalectic. “Oh, God, he’s doing presidents again” you say? Yes. Yes, I’m doing presidents. And other stuff! Frost/Nixon, 2008.   Watching this because I’m fully in the presidential … Continue reading →

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May 2026 in Review

Posted on May 30, 2026 by smellincoffee

So ends the merrie month o’ May; the green buds are no longer swelling, but bursting into full flower. Summer is here, what I….lovingly….call the Great Sticky Siege. The outside world is quickly becoming not a place of warmth and … Continue reading →

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Lincoln

Posted on May 27, 2026 by smellincoffee

Gore Vidal’s Lincoln is a fictional rendering of President Lincoln across five years, from his rise to power to his sudden end at an assassin’s hands in 1865.  Unlike the modern film Lincoln, Vidal does not try to give us … Continue reading →

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