My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas

By -
Clarence Thomas was raised by his grandfather, hence the title. His story of his rise from poverty to the Supreme Court is fascinating and inspiring. I was surprised by how much I liked it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wheat Thins Too Salty!

By -
I don't know why, but some time last year, Wheat Thins started coming with tons of extra salt on them. The first time I encountered it, I thought it was just a bad box. But it's been consistent every time since then, across various varieties (except the low-salt kind). Nabisco, stop it! It's way too much salt! You're killing us. You took out the trans fats a few years ago, which was fine. The crackers got harder then, but that's a minor deal. But seriously, cut back on the salt!
Read more

St. Laurence's Church, Chorley, Lancashire

By -
Image
While walking from the railway station to the Preston LDS Temple , we visited Chorley Parish Church of St. Laurence . It has many interesting exterior features, including a sundial and many carved stone heads and gargoyles. Look for the dog growling down at us: It's an actively used Anglican church and has a large worship area, a pipe organ, drums, and nice stained glass. Most unusually, a 48-star American flag greeted us from the wall! That's because there is a pew there built by Alexander Standish in 1600, who was the son of Myles Standish , a Mayflow passenger, Plymouth colony leader, and founder Duxbury, Massachusetts. Opposite the American flag is a Polish flag and plaque mentioning the gift from Polish families in 1999, if memory serves. Finally, the little footpath down from the church is called Church Brow, a most delightful name for a street:
Read more

Ancona, Italy and ferry to Split, Croatia

By -
Image
We took a train from Rome to Ancona, Italy, where we had a one-day stop. Ancona is about ¾ of the way up the east coast, on the Adriatic Sea. The next evening we planned to take an overnight ferry to Split, Croatia, so this seemed like a simple transfer place, but Ancona is a really neat city itself! At night I wandered around and ended up hiking to a functioning lighthouse. The stone sign is at 104 meters above sea level, about 341 feet. Our neighborhood had some nice murals / graffiti: Here is a view out over a pentagonal building formerly used as a quarantine colony, a little island right by the city, open to the public: There are quite a few drinking fountains scattered all over, and all the ones we tried worked! This is the correct way for a city to be. It is very hilly, with stairs and steep roads all over. Many narrow little alleys between buildings, and connecting passages and staircases up and down hills, between houses, churches, and pa
Read more