A Random Assortment

~ On phone booths and isolation.

~ Emily Dickinson's scraps of paper and jotted notes have been digitized! You can see drafts of her poems, letters she wrote, and even a donut recipe. 

~ I hate flying and I hate airports and I don't even think it quite occurred to me that someone designs them. Moby claims that Dulles is the second most beautiful airport.

~ From "Scenes from the Inauguration":

Last time, Aretha won the award for best hat. This time, the nod goes to Antonin Scalia. Senator Claire McCaskill turned to her Twitter account and called the Justice’s headgear “really weird.” It turns out the hat had been a gift of the St. Thomas More Society, in Richmond, Virginia—a replica of the one worn by More in the portrait by Hans Holbein. More, as readers of history and fans of “A Man for All Seasons” and “Wolf Hall” will recall, was the principled opponent of the Protestant Reformation who lost his head (and hat) after giving Henry VIII problems over Anne Boleyn. What the hat says about the way Scalia will vote on gay marriage and affirmative action later this year is not known. But we may guess.

(HT: Francisco)

~ Strauss, Notes on Tocqueville:

The real thing in Burke, the characteristic thing I believe is - and to that extent I agree with the older opinion about Burke which emphasized the connection between Burke and the historical school. That is the novel thing. The emphasis on growth as opposed to making, that was something radically new.