Jan Freeman

@janfreeman.bsky.social

507 Followers 146 Following

Mostly retired editor/writer/Boston Globe language columnist; author of centenary edition of Ambrose Bierce's "Write It Right" (Walker, 2009), whose subtitle is too long for this space. Not the Massachusetts poet who shares my name.

Setting sun (behind camera) lights up treetops and their reflections in a river, below gray clouds moving eastward after a brief storm.
Foggy morning on a cove with a red maple (I think) on the near bank showing the misty pink of buds just beginning to open.
Kevin Kline as the Pirate King in the movie version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance.”
Branches of bright yellow witch hazel in bloom, seen through a window against a blue sky with white clouds.
Search result from Google AI claiming that St. Patrick's Day 2025 is on Wednesday, which is actually March 19, not March 17.
"Bizarro" cartoon from March 5, 2025, labeled "Grammar Police." Shows a cop handcuffing a man and saying "You're under arrest for using 'tis and 'twas outside of December without a poetic license."
Bizarro cartoon (Sun. 1/26/2025) of the damned in hell breaking rocks amid flames, among them Bezos & Zuckerberg. Ordinary guy says "I have to admit I've gotten a kick out of meeting so many famous billionaires & politicians."
Ice skaters on part of the Charles River adjacent to a park in Newton, Mass., on one of the increasingly rare days that the river freezes hard enough for skating.
"Rhymes with Organge" strip for 1/1/2025: Two lines at the coffee shop: A long one at the regular register, one person at the express line, where you must place your order in "5 words or less."
Suburban street at night with lighted globes hanging from the trees (Islington Peninsula, Newton, MA).
Wreath on metal ring has greenery on only part of it, and is captioned "Covering two-thirds of the ring makes an asymmetrical wreath look modern, not unfinished."
Passage from O'Brian's "Master and Commander" describing a male after-dinner guest getting up to use the chamber pot while conversing with the other men. He comments that he knows people who have a solid silver chamber pot.
Paul Klee's lithograph "A Guardian Angel Serves a Small Breakfast" (1920)
Cover of a CD set of "Flambards," a 1979 series set in England before and during WWI and first shown in the US in 1980.
Tom Tomorrow cartoon from 1994 shows Sparky quizzing Biff about why he voted for the party that wants to mandate school prayer, put kids of welfare moms into orphanages, and repeal Roe v. Wade: "To get big government off our backs, of course!"
Rear end of a vanilla-colored Borgward auto ('50s- '60s) showing the chrome nameplate "Isabella coupé"
3 inch long dark colored flying beetle (?) hanging on a screen at sunrise.
NYT print headline from 10/27/24 that ran on a wedding story (Jonathon Otcasek, son of the Cars' Rick Ocasek and model Paulina Porizkova, to Erin Kim): "After a Graveyard Start, It's Till Death Do They Part."
Hippos (from behind) relaxing in the water at the San DIego Zoo.
Headline on a Jeff Jacoby opinion piece in the Boston Globe 10/30/24: "Why I won't vote for president."
Still life by Giorgio Morandi portraying a group of white ceramic objects.
Fall foliage reflected in the water in Newton, Mass.
Google Ngram graph showing both "crisp crust" and "crispy crust" rising steeply in popularity since c. 1980.
Lawn signs in front of a house in Ohio support Trump/Vance, Kellie Deeter (R), and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D).
Seven ducks in a row on the water with a swan following them.
1992 cartoon by Bruce Handy & Maurice Vellekoop shows Jesus running for president, only to be beaten by Sonny Bono.
Two trees in MA park, smaller one with red-orange leaves seen through a branch of the foreground tree, which is still insistently green.
Gary Oldman and Christopher Chung in "Slow Horses" Season 4.
Eight ripe cherry tomatoes in a metal strainer
Large lovely tortoiseshell cat in small suitcase (just the right size, according to her).
Brass lamp with vaguely Tiffany-style glass shade with 5 or 6 panels, each showing Jesus on the cross.
Caged chicken, black with pompadour of white feathers. Sorry I don't know the breed!
For sale at the county fair, a grill built into the back half of a small red car and another built into half a blue car, under a red-and-white striped tent. No prices since stand is closed.
Swiss fried cheese/corn dog stand at the Huron County, Ohio, fair.
Route 20 west of Cleveland, Ohio, with traffic going under an orange banner that reads "SUPER GUN RAFFLE Sept. 14th."
Strip from Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac: Little Alice is dancing with excitement because "we're going to the beach!" She asks brother Petey to remind her: "What's at the beach anyway?" Says Petey: "Sun, sand and saltwater. The three itchiest things in the natural world."
Melting caramel semifreddo in a stemmed sherbet glass with a chocolate wafer garnish.
Treetops lit up gold by sun setting behind photographer, pond and trees in darkness below them, blue skies with white clouds above.
Stevie Wonder opened for the Stones in July 1972 at the Boston Garden, and played for hours while the Stones were delayed after being arrested in Rhode Island.
Ancient hieroglyphics carver at work on a row of images. Standing behind him, editor/critic says: "It's eye before flea, except after sea."
Ancient hieroglyphics carver at work on a row of images. Standing behind him, editor/critic says: "It faut mettre l'oeil avant the scarabée, sauf si le participe passé est placé devant le serpent."
Photo of red brick 2.5-story library building with wide, tall stairs to a portico with a glass entryway flanked by two columns. Foreground is a wide sidewalk with pring blooming trees and benches on each side.
"Santa" holding an astonished toddler as he kisses his wife