Handwriting: Back in the bad ol' days (And even today, in some places) emphasis was placed on elegant penmanship. Besides, this being 1857, Villet most likely used a quill pen, or might even have had access to a precursor to the fountain pen. In either case, a graceful control of the line was necessary to prevent ink spattering and damage to the nib.

("Lester" was the name of his current master; therefore I refer to Villet only by his first name.)

My ancestors on both sides didn't arrive in the USA until after the Civil War, and came from parts of Europe where hired servants were fairly common at the time, but slavery was considered barbaric. Naturally, some of us were morbidly curious about slavery: why did it happen, what was it like to be a slave, what could this do to a person's mind/attitude, etc. Getting answers wasn't always easy, but we did hear of this sort of thing. If a slave was treated well, he might view his master's family as his own (often in place of his real family, which was usually broken up, sadly). We are naturally inclined toward a nuclear family, and will "imprint" after a fashion on whoever takes care of us. Indeed, many slaves resented being slaves; but some seemed to accept their lot. I don't think any slave enjoyed it, of course. But some just didn't see any favorable alternative, and figured, "Yeah, it's a lot of work, but they take care of me. If I ran away, nobody would take care of me."

The frequent sale of Villet can be attributed to several things. Economics played a part. Slaves were cheaper than hired help, but they were not cheap. Slave owners would often sell slaves to make some money. Villet's short tenure with one or two masters could mean that he was bought specifically to be sold at a higher price, or that he didn't have the qualities these masters sought. Apparently he was highly valued by Mr. Lester, who wanted to keep him in his household for the remainder of his days. He must have been quite wealthy, to be able to make a statement to that effect --- he didn't foresee a need to sell off his slaves.

This is a very sad letter --- Villet loves and misses his "family," yet the head of that "family" had sold him. I doubt that that man would have sold his biological son. Villet's love is misplaced --- but in the absence of a true family, which would never sell him, where else can he direct the love he feels?

It's also sad that I've heard that some people have used the fact that some slaves viewed their owners as "family" and were relatively well-treated as justification for slavery. Take a good, hard look at anyone who is in an abusive relationship and can't seem to leave; that is inexcusable, and slavery is quite plainly the institutionalization of an abusive relationship.

Young girls put them back, every one.

All right, sister!

Until about 1997, Roma were officially regarded as non-citizens in the state of New Jersey, USA. This little-known "law" was rarely used in recent years, but could be invoked if someone didn't like someone else.

Note that she mentions that a number of Roma attempt to buy houses or land (and are turned down). As I've often had to explain, we don't necessarily WANT to be on the road all the time; we're just victims of some really bad circumstances and never given a proper opportunity to recover.

Remember the kite-eating tree that always gave Charlie Brown a hard time?

Sorry --- woke up with a migraine, so I'm running a bit slow. This one's better:

1. Use brain to turn TV on.
2. Park self in front of TV.
3. Use TV to turn brain off.

The Samurai Umbrella must never be drawn unless it is to get wet.

1. Use brain to turn on TV.
2. Park self in front of TV.
3. Turn brain off.

If a fat bratty rich kid can't get caught in one of its uptake tubes, it's just not up to Wonka standards.

Appendices?

So... when the night janitor finishes vacuum-cleaning the floor, he or she will also have vacuum-cleaned the ceiling? All without a break...

Two Hallowe'ens ago, just after the "Transformers" movie came out, a student at a high school where I work came to school in his home-made Transformer costume. As we all stood amazed, he crouched to the floor in the hallway and went from robot warrior to sports car in about five seconds. We gave him a standing ovation!

Tragedy waiting to happen, of course...

My hero!

I often joke in grocery stores that the paper, pens & tape will "never move," while pointing to the "Stationary" sign.

Also, I got my business partner to correctly order two Burritos Supreme at Taco Bell instead of two Burrito Supremes.

Hail to Scotchdrinkr & Co.! I too embellish mapped directions with sea monsters and "Here be Dragons" and "Terra Incognita," etc.

When I read this article, I found myself thinking of Scylla & Charybdis from Homer's "Odyssey."

@ Andrew Allen (4th from top) - Schumann was trying to strengthen his ring fingers, which are weaker than the others in the sense that one of the tendons is underdeveloped (Curl your fingers into a fist, then try to "flip the bird" using your ring finger, and you'll see the problem). He built some little exercise gadget for this purpose, but it did indeed make things worse, ending his professional performance career.

Piano teachers everywhere, I wouldn't worry too much about this cyber-toy. Anyone remember those cheesy magazine ads from the 1950s and early 60s showing Mr. Businessman at home, grimly playing popular lite piano classics to entertain Mrs. Hausfrau? Supposedly by buying these instruction manuals, YOU TOO could play all these tunes YOU LIKE with VERY LITTLE PRACTICE, just by following these simple directions! Ultimately it boiled down to playing a small repertoire of simplified pieces --- and even though the practice time was small enough to shoehorn around one's 9-to-5 work day, it was still enough of an investment that it was abandoned by those who decided that it was easier to just put a record on the hi-fi.

Professional musicianship will remain the heritage of those who truly desire it and put in the long hours of work. Concert Hands may or may not prove a bit useful in getting a kid started as far as the repetitious finger exercises go; but it will not turn them into the next van Cliburn. THAT is up to the student, and depends on what they do after they take Concert Hands off.