LightNews LightNews
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
@cjonthehudson.bsky.social
26 followers 40 following 78 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
Thanks to the wonders of AI, my various self-hosted websites have been in various states of offline for the past month. They all appear to be back up now.
But at least I got a new (rare) blog post out of it, full of blogspots and cron jobs:

#technology #FuckAI

mynonurbanlife.com/tech-storm-2...
Tech Storm 2025 – My Now-Urban Life
mynonurbanlife.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted
cjonthehudson.mastodon.sdf.org.ap.brid.gy
No Kings protests for Oct. 18. #stopfascism #antifa #antifascist

https://www.nokings.org/#map
nokings.org
www.nokings.org
October 2, 2025 at 12:42 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
I tried bridging my Mastodon posts to this app, and apparently I succeeded, but it didn't work quite the way I expected – it posts to a separate profile, and a lot of you followed that. But I can't seem to follow from that one. So if I followed you from this profile today, that's why.
October 2, 2025 at 12:20 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely https://vinyldistractions.com/the-raconteurs-consolers-of-the-lonely/
August 20, 2025 at 1:11 AM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
Last night in the grocery store a kid was randomly calling out "hee haw!" as if she were Sam Wainright.
August 16, 2025 at 12:48 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
1895. I say he had it coming. #OldNewspapers #Troy #TroyNY #newspapers #headlines
August 13, 2025 at 6:32 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
Parliament – Osmium https://vinyldistractions.com/parliament-osmium/
August 12, 2025 at 12:22 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
My latest #LocalHistory post is essentially an excuse to look at a very, very pretty map – a 1910 Sanborn fire insurance map showing the confluence of the #MohawkRiver and #HudsonRiver at #cohoes

#UpstateNewYork #UpstateNY #CohoesNY #map #maps #historicalMaps

https://hoxsie.org/2025/08/10/the-co
August 11, 2025 at 12:31 AM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
I was about to not bother bringing #kayaks on our short weekend trip back to the old hometown, but then our grownkid said they wanted to paddle with us . . . and we had the most delightful afternoon on the #MohawkRiver in a section I didn't used to paddle that much.
August 9, 2025 at 12:21 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
We used to have a reason not to despair:

#LocalHistory #UpstateNY #UpstateNewYork #TroyNY #CollarCity
Newspaper advertisement from 1850 that says "Never despair while J.C. Mattices' Wholesale & Retail Clothing and Furnishing Establishment is in existence at 210 River St. Troy"
August 4, 2025 at 3:08 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
Waterford, NY: the 1893 Ormsby Textile mill. Underwear, lace trim, automobile fabrics, "mother of the bride" dresses.

The history of Ursula of Switzerland and the Ormsby mill at my blog:
hoxsie.org/2025/07/28/u...
#Localhistory #UpstateNY #UpstateNewYork #waterfordNY #histodons #history
Photograph of a brick mill building, a five-story building with a series of windows on every floor, and a taller tower in the front of the building, capped by a delicate weathervane. A black clothing tag, inside a black garment, for Ursula of Switzerland.
July 28, 2025 at 12:04 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
What if Scotia, NY's Glen-Sanders Mansion had no Glens, no Sanderses?
At the link, the history of the mansion – the very symbol of my hometown – from 1963 until today.

#localhistory #scotiaNY #schenectady #SchenectadyHistory #ScotiaHistory

hoxsie.org/2025/07/10/t...
1934 black and white photograph of Scotia, New York's Glen Sanders Mansion. It is an old house with an appearance of white stucco or plaster on the exterior. The lower story facing us shows two large windows (12 lites each), a narrower window next to a broad door that also appears to be glazed with 35 lites, and two more windows to the right of the door. All the windows on the lower story have shutters.Above this in iron are is the date "1713." Above that, four windows are spread acros the facade, with 25 lites each. A third story features a hipped roof and three dormers, and a decorative rail at the top of the roof. There is a light coating of snow all around the grounds, and several gnarled old trees in the foreground.
July 11, 2025 at 3:14 AM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
Ohhhh . . . yesterday I paddled what I'm pretty sure is my new boat. Made by Melker of Sweden, committed to sustainability (it ain't easy), this baby is laid up with cork; the deck is made of flax. And resin that's at least partly plant-based. And it paddles like a dream.
#paddling #kayak #kayaking
Photograph of a kayak on a dock. The kayak is light brown in color, made of cork and flax. There are three hatches, two in front of the cockpit and one aft, and the areas surrounding the hatches are bright white. The cockpit is shaped like a guitar pick. A white-bladed paddle rests on the back of the kayak.
May 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
After writing about #UpstateNewYork carpet heiress/big game hunter/POW in Germany, here's her famous polo player brother, once on the cover of Time Magazine, & once fined for bringing too many ducks into New York State:
hoxsie.org/2025/04/28/p... #localhistory #AmsterdamNY #UpstateHistory
The cover of Time ("The Weekly News-Magazine") from March 31, 1923. The name of the magazine and its tag line are within thin ruled boxes at the top of the page (three boxes, each within another, as well as a heavier outlines that goes all the way around the page. Decorative elements are in columns running left and right of the drawing that is the focus of the cover. The drawing, apparently graphite, depicts Laddie Sanford, a white man in three-quarter profile, wearing a light-colored fedora with a dark band. His face is pleasant and neutral; the top of his body is shown, wearing a lapelled overcoat, white shirt collar and dark necktie. Underneath he is not identified, but a slugline says "Observed by Europe / First American to win the Grand National – see page 25"
May 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
If I'd had to guess which member of an #AmsterdamNY family had ended up on the cover of Time Magazine, I would not have guessed Laddie Sanford.But I wouldn't have guessed he got fined for bringing too many dead ducks into New York, either.
hoxsie.org/.../polo-pla... #upstateny #LocalHistory
The cover of Time ("The Weekly News-Magazine") from March 31, 1923. The name of the magazine and its tag line are within thin ruled boxes at the top of the page (three boxes, each within another, as well as a heavier outlines that goes all the way around the page. Decorative elements are in columns running left and right of the drawing that is the focus of the cover. The drawing, apparently graphite, depicts Laddie Sanford, a white man in three-quarter profile, weraing a light-colored fedora with a dark band. His face is pleasant and neutral; the top of his body is shown, wearing a lapelled overcoat, white shirt collar and dark necktie. Underneath he is not identified, but a slugline says "Observed by Europe / First American to win the Grand National – see page 25"
April 28, 2025 at 12:22 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
Fascinated to learn that a local heiress who had gone to work for the O.S.S. in WWII ended up as a POW in Nazi Germany in the closing months of the war – Story here:
hoxsie.org/2025/04/24/a...
#LocalHistory #AmsterdamNY #CapitalDistrict #history #WWII
Photograph of a woman, Gertrude Sanford Legendre, in a women's military uniform with jacket, shirt and tie, and skirt, standing next to a concrete post and in front of a building with shutters around its windows. She actually appears to be smiling at the camera, but this was taken while she was a prisoner of war in Germany in World War II.
April 25, 2025 at 10:02 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
New post up at VinylDistractions.com: Catching up with the six John Mayall albums I've collected since the last time I wrote about John Mayall, starting with the epic "The Turning Point."
vinyldistractions.com/john-mayall-...
The Turning Point front cover – Underneath the title (in red type on blue background) is a stylized black and white mezzotint photograph that shows, in very abstract high contrast, a man holding a microphone cupped in his hands before his face. He appears to be surrounded by the folds of a curtain. This is probably from a photograph of John Mayall playing harmonica into a microphone, but the harmonica is not visible.
April 25, 2025 at 1:39 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
wapo.st/41vGUqi
Guess what population doesn't have computer access and lacks mobility to get to central offices – which of course are being closed anyway. #resist #fightnazis
Social Security to require millions to make claims in person rather than by phone
The change is expected to create new hardships as Trump and Musk push massive cuts to the agency that serves elderly and disabled Americans.
wapo.st
March 19, 2025 at 5:44 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
youtu.be/q2pDzJy81h0

All the cool kids are singing Dylan again these days, right? Here's "Things Have Changed," which I seem to play differently every time I play it. #SundaySong #CoverSongs #DylanSongs
Things Have Changed 03-16-25
YouTube video by Carl Johnson
youtu.be
March 16, 2025 at 3:53 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
Friday the 13th fell on a Thursday this month, but you can celebrate whatever the 14th is with me at 260 Bridge Cafe. New songs, old songs, tea and pastries! See you tomorrow night, 7 PM.
March 13, 2025 at 2:08 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
Oops, I may have just bought another #fountainpen. I was just supposed to get ink cartridges ;)

My return to fountain pen use has really helped me focus on both journalling and general scribbling/doodling. It's a very mindful practice when I can't be doing something physical.

#fountainpens
March 10, 2025 at 2:39 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
While I generally love having a younger therapist, it does mean I had to spend an amount of time today explaining the movie "To Sir With Love" and why when I saw it recently, I was weeping throughout. #therapy #movies
March 6, 2025 at 5:40 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
Once upon a time this was my blog's tag:
Text in a box that says I can write better than anyone who can type faster. I can type faster than anyone who can write better.
March 4, 2025 at 3:42 AM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
youtu.be/6pb0OI367m8?...
Maybe my little emotional crisis in a local grocery store will resonate beyond the bounds of Kimberton, PA. In any case, this is my own song about “Crying In the Kimberton Whole Foods" (no relation, I promise). #music #singersongwriter #originalsong #originalmusic #ukulele
Crying in the Kimberton Whole Foods
YouTube video by Carl Johnson
youtu.be
March 2, 2025 at 7:21 PM
cjonthehudson.bsky.social
I’ve been reading this book for 40 years—like most of my favorites, hard to say why—but the paperback binding is finally coming apart.

Technically, it’s still in print (more’s my surprise), though the demand has to pile up before they’ll actually produce a few.

#literature #reading #books
Cover of Muriel Spark’s novella, “The Girls of Slender Means,” which is simply a black background, Sparks’s name in script in a silver band across the top, and beneath that the title in a green box in a very gentle deco font. Title page of “The Girls of Slender Means,” with nothing but the title in a small capital font.
March 2, 2025 at 12:49 PM