Me to elementary kid: How was your last day of school before winter break?
Kid: Great! We did no learning!
| Website | https://brianleechphd.net/ |
Brian Leech
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Historian of the U.S. West and Midwest. Professor at Augustana College in Illinois. Research on environmental history, mining, food, energy, pop culture. Currently writing about the portrayal of mining in popular culture and the history of U.S. speed limits. He/him. Opinions my own and not my employer’s. #histodon #histodons #envhist #envhum #mininghistory
Me to elementary kid: How was your last day of school before winter break?
Kid: Great! We did no learning!
A deer carried out of my local Menards? Hard to think of a more #midwestern news story. https://www.kwqc.com/2025/12/16/customers-safely-remove-deer-menards/
A deer carries out of my local Menards? Hard to think of a more #midwestern news story. https://www.kwqc.com/2025/12/16/customers-safely-remove-deer-menards/
If you’re looking for a good excuse to buy books as gifts or for yourself, just know that bookshelves full of books are among the best insulators for homes. So you’re actually saving money every time you buy a book. #books https://theconversation.com/five-ways-to-keep-your-home-warm-this-winter-34464
To the five separate people who stopped me, honked at me, or yelled across the parking lot at me during my short trip to the grocery store: thanks! I have now pumped up my low back tire. We often forget that most people are helpful.
Nice to read this celebration of hand-drawn movie poster designers, which reminds me that I have some great original movie posters framed and sitting in my basement, waiting to be re-hung. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/movies/drew-struzan-renato-casaro-movie-posters.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
I'm not sure how I got on this email list, but I get emails every week about food recalls. The craziest ones are always listeria. Why? Because the symptoms of a listeria infection "usually start within 2 weeks after eating food contaminated with Listeria but may start as early as the same day or as late as 10 weeks after." For a food-borne illness, this seems really unfair to us humans. As late as 10 weeks? That would make it really tough to track down the source of an outbreak.