Monday, February 15, 2010

I Heart George Washington

Most years President's Day goes by with just a furniture sale mention and me standing by the door wondering where in the hell is the mailman. But this year I've been chased around by George Washington and its been lovely.

It started last Friday. I was with a pile of zombies and we read this book.
You can read a review of this book right here. (The author himself drops a comment on the review.) I read the book over before the zombies showed up and was completely charmed by it. What a neat little window into the personality of our first president.


When I told The Man the story about Washington and General Howe's dog, we both started wondering about the names of George's other dogs besides Sweet Lips. Here's two sites that have partial lists of George Washington's dogs' names. On the whole, he had a flair for giving dogs insanely cute names.



This morning on the History channel they had a show about Washington and how, when he wasn't busy running the country, he personally surveyed the new federal city and made architectural changes to the blueprints for the new presidential mansion. The show said that he, "...micromanaged the construction of the city from Mount Vernon...". Now that's a guy who didn't have time management problems.


The Man's Page-a-Day Art calendar today is of Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze.

I mentioned to The Man that the Delaware River does not get big blocks of ice on it like that and that some point to this painting as evidence of global warming.

Man: That doesn't sound right. You're making that up.

Me: No I'm not. How could I make that up?

Man: Sounds like something you would make up.

Me: I think it sounds like something that I heard and completely plausible.

Man: Prove it.

Okay, so I can't. I have searched the web and I can't find anything that even remotely says anything like that. The closest I found were some yahoos that try to re-enact the crossing every year for kicks. But I swear I didn't make it up. I did hear it somewhere at sometime from someone. I will be vindicated on this.

Happy President's Day to everyone!

5 comments:

chipper said...

maybe it's because my house is filled with early readers, but I love almost all of these books.

we picked up one about Rosa Parks at the Henry Ford Museum that the kids LOVE since they got to sit in her seat in the bus.

Nance said...

I am now on a Mission to prove what you said. I think, however, that the fact that you could have Made It Up is a compliment. Why? Well:
1. It sounds authoritative
2. It is creative
3. It is unique
4. It is historical
5. It is artsy
6. It was spur-of-the-moment and shows that you have nimble intelligence
7. It sounds a lot like something I would make up; therefore, it is admirable

Nance said...

Point E. here to start:

Nance said...

Actually, HERE it is. Discover magazine. Not too hard to find, J. You must not have looked very long.

WHAT DO I WIN?

J. said...

Discover Magazine! That's my favorite read! I've had a subscription my whole married life. That's where I read it then! Thanks Nance! I am vindicated indeed!