jeff covey's random bits
My writing surges up and down a sine wave. I have years when I clutter the calendar with posts and years when the lights are still on but the stage sits empty. It’s now April and my last post went up at the end of August, so you might think it’s been another dry year.
Who built the Colosseum? If you re hesitating, don t. It s not a trick question. The Romans built the Colosseum. It was commissioned by Emperor Vespasian around 70 C.E. as part of the reclamation of the land taken for Nero s Golden House . It was one of several building projects that followed the suppression of the Jewish Revolt
President Trump accomplished something this week that must elate him. Most days, his name will come up at some point. Now, for the first time since November 9th, every friend or stranger you meet brings him up before saying “Hello”. I’m housesitting in Brooklyn, and a neighbor chatted with me while I watered the garden
Lee stared at the checkerboard tiles of the coffee shop floor until they grew crisp and unnatural and he didn t really see them, every thought draining from his head. A long-forgotten cup sat cold beside him. A pair of legs appeared. He followed them up and found Mike looking down at him. He managed a
On our way to England last May, Al and I went on a typical cruise ship excursion to Rouen. Our guide played hide-and-seek on a rushed tour of the cathedral, then we had an hour to ourselves before we had to get back on the bus. It was a perfect chance to let Al experience
The Jaguar made a sound like nuts and bolts tossing in a dryer, somewhere by the front left wheel. It always made it now when you pulled up to the curb. Andy jerked his hand to the key and shut it down, both to stop the noise and any additional damage it might do. He
(See other articles in this series in the Travel section. This one ballooned, so I ve split it into two parts.) Electronics Computer and phone Electronics make the quickest and most regular movements toward miniaturization and multiple uses. I started my travels with an iPad and a MacBook, and lugged the two a quarter of the
(See other articles in this series in the Travel section. This one ballooned, so I ve split it into two parts.) Some of what I ve learned about travel has come from going and doing, making mistakes and discoveries. Some has come from travel authors and people I ve met on the way. But almost everything I bring
While reading about Machu Picchu, I learned of an American movie that was shot there in 1954. It looked to me like any other of the flood of exotic adventure pictures that poured out of the 50s. This one s stayed just above the brim of obscurity because it became the template for Raiders of the
(See other articles in this series in the Travel section.) I ve been on the road again, and the next couple of posts in this series will be longer and more complicated. They re partly done, and I ve also been writing down some of my impressions of walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I ll be more