Ice Storm

Near the Multi-Sport Facility on Penn State’s campus.

A sign nearby warned of falling ice from the roof of the building.

In our backyard -- I loved how the ice coated these leaves, and as the day warmed up the ice separated from them. 

Boston to sell off entire contents of its print shop

via boingboing

“The city of Boston has shut down its 78-year-old printing office to save money, and they're auctioning off 200 lots of astounding old print-shop junk. This is a potential bonanza for fine-art printers, zinesters, and people whose idea of fun is historical recreation of pre-digital printing techniques (green eyeshade optional). The auction is being held on Feb 24 at 11AM eastern and will be simultaneously conducted live and digitally.”

Read the rest here.

Amanda Rebuck Howerter

My mother passed along a book that was my maternal great-grandmother’s . 

She would have been about 12 years old when she signed this.

A great ampersand from the back cover.

Although this photo was taken in 1942, this is how I remember her.  She was about 63, and sitting on the front porch of her home in Pitman, PA.

Amanda with my great-grandfather George Monroe Howerter in 1942.

My great-grandmother Howerter passed away in 1965. She would have been about 86 at the time. My only memory of her was when she was on her death bed. I would have been 3 at the time. I remember going upstairs into her bedroom with my mother and Amanda was in a very large bed. She seemed tired, but was very happy to see me. I was wearing this Ratfink ring and was probably fiddling with it. She called me over to her bedside and asked to see it. I tried to explain to her what it was, and I recall that though she didn't really understand what I was saying -- I was 3 and probably didn't speak very clearly or make any sense -- she listened intently, smiled, and said something to the effect that she was so glad that I shared my special ring with her.

Today, though the ring part is long gone missing, the Ratfink holds a special place in my typecase display.

More ampersands can be found here.