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The Sky's The Limit

1/31/2018

From Jim Asher, the world's leading authority on Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request):

There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair.

~Emily Dickinson

Pictured at the right: January skies: a picture of the sky from each day of the year (so far), January 1, 2018, at the bottom, through January 31, 2018, at the top left.

I am taking a picture of the sky every day. You can follow along on Instagram: @Daily_Sky_Pic

Soon I'll post a favorite poem or two by Dickinson about the sky. For now, just the daily pics at the left. : )

Wake Up & Read The Coffee

1/30/2018

From our entertainment editor Qwerty Lee Dickinson:

It's that time of year again -- February is just around the corner -- or FeBREWary as we like to call it, a month long celebration of the coffee poetry written by Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request).

No poet wrote more poems about coffee than Emmett Lee Dickinson, and since 2013 we have posted his coffee poetry throughout the month of February -- er, FeBREWary.

Join us HERE on FeBREWary 1, 2018, and every day throughout the month, and we'll treat you to some of Dickinson's best caffeinated poems.

In anticipation of our month-long coffee fest, we thought we'd post one of Dickinson's coffee classics, "The Fingers of the Light" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem with the same opening line (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The Fingers of the Light
Tapped soft upon my Pane
With “I am great and cannot wait
So therefore let me in.”

“Too soon,” I darkly cried,
“My Body’s still asleep –
But swear, and I will let you by
You will not wake me up.”

The pesky Guest declined
And once within my Space
The transport of His Countenance
Awakened me with Haste.

The Sunshine in the Room
Upon My Berth did Glow
With sound obeisance I complied
Held up My Cup of Joe.

By Emily Dickinson:

The Fingers of the Light
Tapped soft upon the Town
With "I am great and cannot wait
So therefore let me in."

"You're soon," the Town replied,
"My Faces are asleep --
But swear, and I will let you by,
You will not wake them up."

The easy Guest complied
But once within the Town
The transport of His Countenance
Awakened Maid and Man

The Neighbor in the Pool
Upon His Hip elate
Made loud obeisance and the Gnat
Held up His Cup for Light.

State of the Union

1/29/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

There really is no need to watch Trump deliver his "State of the Union" address to congress. He won't tell the truth.

Trump will do nothing but lie and deceive. He will fake, fool, and falsify. He will delude and dupe. He will trick, twist, and take us all for a ride. He will mislead. He will boast and bamboozle. He will hoodwink and hornswoggle. And the GOP will applaud.

Our democracy is in peril, and if you want to know the state of our union, just read the sign in the picture below.

I am a Muslim, register me.
I am Mexican, deport me.
I am African American, imprison me.
I am LGBTQ+, refuse to serve me.
I am poor, blame me.
I am elderly, privatize me.
I am a woman, defund me.
I am homeless, ignore me.
I am disabled, bully me.
I am sick, uninsure me.
I am indigenous, pollute me.
I am a veteran, voucher me.
I am an American, lie to me.

We have posted the picture and the poems below before, but on the date of Trump's first State of the Union address, we thought we would post them again.

Below on the left: What is the state of our union? Emmett Lee Dickinson hit the nail on his head when he wrote "The morons are bolder than they were." That is the state of our union. Dickinson's poem inspired Emily Dickinson to pen her poem, "The morns are meeker than they were" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The morons are bolder than they were –
The nuts are getting strong –
Steve Bannon’s cheek is plumper –
The Voice of the alt-wrong.

That Milo wears a gayer scarf –
And Kellyanne alt-garb
So I can be identified
I’ll put my gold star on.

By Emily Dickinson:

The morns are meeker than they were –
The nuts are getting brown –
The berry's cheek is plumper –
The Rose is out of town.

The Maple wears a gayer scarf –
The field a scarlet gown –
Lest I should be old fashioned
I'll put a trinket on.

Pictured below: Trump got the idea for his "gold star" program from the final line of Dickinson's poem above on the left. He asked Ivanka to design the gold stars which the White House will soon require all of us to wear.

Below on the left: "That Hate is all they have," a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson written in the 1800s, has captured the MAGA movement. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "That Love is al there is" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

That Hate is all they have,
And all they have is Hate;
It's not okay, that hate should be
Just how you make us great.

By Emily Dickinson:

That Love is all there is,
Is all we know of Love;
It is enough, the freight should be
Proportioned to the groove.

The Valentine's Day Massacre?

1/28/2018

From our current affairs editor Lemuel Stuart III:

I’m sure you’ve heard about the phony-baloney War on Christmas, but after Melanie Trump decorated the White House this year, I began to think that there might be something to the holiday combat. Her horrid ornamentations did more to launch an attack on the holiday than anything I’ve ever seen.

Pictured below on the left: A traditional Obama Christmas. On the right: The Trump's attack in the War on Christmas.

Now I’m beginning to think that Melanie Trump is about to wage a War on Valentine’s Day – most likely brought on by the recent disclosure that her chubby hubby had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels shortly after Melanie married the Donald (and you know that Melanie married for love). Now it seems that Melania has channeled her anger in a series official White House Valentines she has designed for the upcoming holiday.

On Valentine’s Day 2018 we will share all of the Valentines designed by Melanie Trump to "celebrate" the holiday. For now, we have received authorization to provide an exclusive sneak peek at two of the Valentines from the collection. Be sure to check back on February 14 when we’ll release the entire set.

Left: Melanie Trump designed a Valentine with Ivanka's image with a Russian theme: "I'm 'RUSSIAN' to be your Valentine."

Right: Donald Trump's senior advisor Stephen Miller posed for his Valentine with his favorite symbol of White Supremacy, the Tiki Torch: "Let's have a HOT time in the White House tonight!"

"I love that the residence for the President of the United States is called the 'White' house," said Miller. "We need to make this country white again. That is what Trump wants. That is what our base wants."

Grasping at Straws

1/27/2018

From our current affairs editor Lemuel Stuart III:

There’s been quite a feeding frenzy on Twitter over the last twenty-four hours – and I’m not talking about the daft nut-jobs who tightened their tin foil hats and blathered frantically on and on about the short-lived shut down of Sean Hannity’s Twitter account.

No, I’m talking about the debate raging on Twitter over the number of holes in a straw -- one? Or two?

Of course, this debate has been raging since 1853 when Emmett Lee Dickinson received the patent for his invention of the drinking straw. On the schematic of the straw that Dickinson submitted for his patent, he showed two holes. However, after he first massed produced and distributed straws to bars and restaurants across the country, the public began to debate -- did Dickinson's invention have two holes -- or just one?

Pictured at the left: The US patent awarded to Emmett Lee Dickinson for the invention of the drinking straw.

Though Dickinson never settled the debate by stating whether a straw had one hole or two, he wrote about the riddle in his now classic poem "Baffled by just one hole or two" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Baffled for just a day or two" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Baffled by just one hole or two –
Embarrassed – not to know –
Encounter with a mystery
An unexpected Woe.
It opens, and the straw starts –
It opes, the other end –
Surely, such a quandary
I was never in!

By Emily Dickinson:

Baffled for just a day or two –
Embarrassed – not afraid –
Encounter in my garden
An unexpected Maid.
She beckons, and the woods start –
She nods, and all begin –
Surely, such a country
I was never in!

Pictured below: The Dickinson Drinking Straw Factory in Washerst, PA (the birthplace of Emmett Lee Dickinson, the inventor of the straw). 86% of the world's drinking straws are still manufactured here.

Arty Pooper

1/26/2018

From our art columnist Jarvis MacKinnon III:

Donald Trump asked the Guggenheim Museum in New York if he could borrow a Van Gogh painting from the museum, but the Guggenheim responded that it could not accommodate the request. Instead, they offered Trump a golden toilet. Talk about an appropriate response.

“We could not offer Donald Trump a painting by Van Gogh,” said Zella Nesbit, the Global Response Manager and Usability Executive at the Guggenheim. “Can you imagine? We’d probably never get it back.”

Nesbit said that she consulted with the museum’s Office of Acquisitions, Loans, Deaccessions, Storage, and Security of Artwork in Transit, and they selected the most applicable work of art that characterized the Trump presidency.

“Among the staff,” said Nesbit, “the golden toilet was a unanimous choice. This is representational art at its best.”

There has been no word yet as to whether or not Trump has accepted the museum’s offer.

The entire affair called to mind the poem “A gag as uproarious as this” (below on the left) by Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request). Dickinson’s poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “In rags mysterious as these” (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

A gag us uproarious as this
The shining Toilet of gold –
Trolling with purpose, and aplomb –
Trolling with cunning too.

Smiling, that they requested art
A Van Gogh was his goal!
Smiling, when he sits bare assed
Upon his golden bowl!

By Emily Dickinson:

In rags mysterious as these
The shining Courtiers go –
Veiling the purple, and the plumes –
Veiling the ermine so.

Smiling, as they request an alms –
At some imposing door!
Smiling when we walk barefoot
Upon their golden floor!

Pictured at the right: The Museum of Modern Art in New York City heard about Trump's request for a painting by Van Gogh, so they have offered to loan him the painting "Arty Pooper: When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Van Gogh" by Vincent Van Gogh's great-great-great-grandson, Sven.

I've Got A Secret Society

1/25/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

From an article from The Hill today: "The scorched-earth attacks against the FBI by a growing number of House and Senate Republicans demonstrate a high degree of fear that special counsel Robert Mueller will make blockbuster moves in the coming days and weeks that will define the fate of ongoing investigations of the Russian attack against America."

The complete article is HERE.

Trump and his attack dogs are unrelenting in their assaults and their attempts to undermine the FBI and the US Intelligence community. They are attempting to destroy the public's trust and faith in the professionals who work day and night to protect our country. Their destructive attacks are as disgraceful as they are shameful.

Some of Trump's sycophants and toadies are even reporting mock outrage about a "secret society" within the FBI, one bent on destroying the Trump regime.

There is a secret society, but it's not within the FBI. No, the secret society is the neo-Nazi white supremacists who have infiltrated the White House and the GOP in their not-so-secret attempts to re-white America. Trump's secret society is bent on destroying the pillars of our democratic republic (an independent judiciary; due process; freedom of the press; freedom of speech) in a not-so-secret attempt to bleach the diverse fabric of our society. It is all as disgusting as it is deplorable.

The GOP's non-stop and aggressive attacks on the FBI called to mind a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson entitled "The going from the world we know" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "the going from a world we know" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The going from the world we know
To one that’s whiter still’s
The GOP’s perversity
Whose clan is on the Hill.
Behind the Hill is devilry
And everyone’s on edge,
To join his secret coterie
Entails a cult-like pledge.

By Emily Dickinson:

The going from a world we know
To one a wonder still
Is like the child's adversity
Whose vista is a hill,
Behind the hill is sorcery
And everything unknown,
But will the secret compensate
For climbing it alone?

Every day we sink further down the rabbit hole -- or should I say "further down the swamp hole"? Trump isn't draining the swamp. He's flooding the swamp and stocking it with swamp critters (as long as the swamp critters say that they voted for him and that they agree to pledge allegiance to him).

At this point we can only hope that Robert Mueller does, in fact, have some blockbuster move in store for us -- to save our country.

Bean There, Done That

1/24/2018

From our 19th-century historian, Eudora Dickinson:

People say that history repeats itself, and after today's ruling in the Grumpy Cat lawsuit against a Californian coffee company for copyright and trademark infringement, we can say, "Bean there, done that." Information about the Grumpy Cat ruling is HERE.

Back in the late 1800s, there was a similar lawsuit when the Dickinson Coffee Company, founded by Emmett Lee Dickinson, sued the Brusque Coffee Company for copyright protection of Dickinson's "Grumpy Cup of Coffee." In their "Enjoy a Grumpy Cup of Coffee" advertisement, the Brusque Coffee Company even showed a woman holding a grumpy cat, a distant relative of the current Grumpy Cat.

Pictured below: The Dickinson Coffee Company in Washerst, PA.

Pictured at the right: The Brusque Coffee Company advertisement, "Enjoy a Grumpy Cup of Coffee!"

Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote about the court case in his now-classic poem "You cannot drink it. Sue" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "I could not drink it, Sue" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

You cannot drink it. Sue
If you taste it first –
Though cooler than our Coffee – it’s
The Grumpiness of Thirst –

By Emily Dickinson:

I could not drink it, Sue,
Till you had tasted first –
Though cooler than the Water – was
The Thoughtfulness of Thirst –

The Dickinson Coffee Company had reason to be grumpy, though, because they lost the suit. They could not prove in court that they had developed a "Grumpy Cup of Coffee" before the Brusque Coffee Company. Within a year after the case, the Dickinson Coffee Company went our of business; however, Emmett Lee Dickinson turned his interest from making coffee to writing poetry about coffee -- and to this date, no other poet has written as many poems about coffee as has Emmett Lee Dickinson.

For the past five years throughout the month of February -- the month we call "FeBREWary" -- was have made daily posts of coffee poetry by Emmett Lee Dickinson (HERE), and this year will be no different. Starting on FeBREWary 1, 2018, we'll post one of Dickinson's poems about coffee each day. Check HERE for our daily posts. Our month-long tribute to the coffee poetry of Emmett Lee Dickinson is sure to make you anything but grumpy!

As American As Apple Pie Soup

1/23/2018

From our food editor, Verla Burrell-Bordelon:

Today is National Pie Day, and no one is more associated with pies than Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request).

As a matter of fact, no other poet is as closely associated to the field of culinary arts than Emmett Lee Dickinson. In November 2013, the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard in historic Washerst, PA) ran a special exhibit in conjunction with TV’s Food Network on Dickinson’s influence on the industry (HERE).

Of course, Dickinson’s two most famous creations are corn chowder and candy corn. At one time, though, another culinary delight invented by Dickinson actually eclipsed the popularity of those two items: pie soup.

That’s right! In the mid-1800s, Emmett Lee Dickinson created multiple recipes for pie soup – chicken broth concoctions combined with pie fillings, including apple pie soup, banana crème pie soup, lemon meringue pie soup, blueberry pie soup, and many others.

Almost from the start, the pie soup craze swept across the country. People couldn’t get enough of pie soup! Pie soup diners and eateries opened everywhere. It wasn’t until the dawn of the interstate highway system that the craze began to fade.

However, to this day, if you travel the back roads and byways of our country, you can find signs of Emmett Lee Dickinson's pie soup everywhere!

Happy National Pie Day!

With Abandon

1/22/2018

NEW PICTURES/INFO ADDED AT THE BOTTOM ON 1/23/18.

From Jim Asher, the world's leading authority on Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request):

Abandoned places hold a strange appeal. There is unexpected beauty in the quietude and mystery of the deserted.

Of course, at some point in the past, the vacant structure was brand spanking new. Who lived or visited there? What circumstances through time brought the property to its state of neglect and disrepair? Is there anything that the abandoned site can teach us about the past? Can the images of the forgotten and crumbling structures stand as works of art?

I visited a number of vacant and neglected properties this past weekend, and the decomposing structures called to mind various lines by Emily Dickinson. Below are photos from the various ruins, and selected stanzas from some of Dickinson’s work.

The Skyline Parkway Motor Court

"Welc ome" to the decaying Skyline Parkway Motor Court at the top of Afton Mountain in Nelson County, Virginia, where the Blue Ridge Parkway meets the southern entrance to the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park.

A chilly Peace infests the Grass
The Sun respectful lies –
Not any Trance of industry
These shadows scrutinize –

The Inn at Afton

When we moved to the area in the 1990s, The Inn at Afton was a Holiday Inn, and it included an Aberdeen Barn restaurant. I'm not sure if it was anything else in its past.

This property is not completely abandoned. The Inn still has electricity -- there were a few lights on around the perimeter -- and there was evidence that a handful of people lived in a few of the rooms..

Up Life's Hill with my little Bundle
If I prove it steep –
If a Discouragement withhold me –
If my newest step

Older feel than the Hope that prompted –
Spotless be from blame
Heart that proposed as Heart that accepted
Homelessness, for Home –

Swannanoa

Further up Afton Mountain is Swannanoa, an Italian Renaissance Revival villa built in 1912 by millionaire and philanthropist James H. Dooley and his wife Sallie.

The Dooley's main residence was Maymont, in Richmond, Virginia (below on the left). Swannanoa (below on the right) was their summer home.

I Years had been from Home
And now before the Door
I dared not enter, lest a Face
I never saw before

Stare solid into mine
And ask my Business there –
"My Business but a Life I left
Was such remaining there?"

ENCHANTED CASTLE

Located in Natural Bridge, Virginia, Mark Cline's "Enchanted Castle and Studio Tours" operated in the 1990s. From RoadsideAmerica.com: "That ended in April 2001, when the Castle was gutted by a mysterious fire. Mark believes -- with some credible evidence to support him -- that it was arson, set by local Christian zealots who were spooked by his fiberglass gargoyles and demons and perhaps none-too-pleased by the "Holy Cow" statue out by the mailbox

Crumbling is not an instant's Act
A fundamental pause
Dilapidation's processes
Are organized Decays.

'Tis first a Cobweb on the Soul
A Cuticle of Dust
A Borer in the Axis
An Elemental Rust –

Ruin is formal – Devil's work
Consecutive and slow –
Fail in an instant, no man did
Slipping – is Crash's law.

Mark Cline was also the artist behind "Foamhenge," a full-scale styrofoam replica of Stonehenge. This roadside attraction used to be down the road from Cline's Enchanted Castle; however, it was relocated to Centreville, VA, in 2017

The DeJarnette State Sanitorium

Located near the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia, the abandoned DeJarnette State Sanitorium, founded in 1932, was named after Dr. Joseph DeJarnette, a prominent Virginia psychiatrist and strong supporter of eugenics, particularly the compulsory sterilization of the mentally ill.

One need not be a Chamber –
to be Haunted –
One need not be a House –
The Brain has Corridors – surpassing
Material Place –

In the photograph below on the right, Dr. Joseph DeJarnette is the man seated on the right.