Colin and I like to travel a lot. When we were overseas, you could find us in a foreign country on any given weekend. Our latest adventure, to the Dominican Republic, was thanks to my brother-in-law Jay and my sister Mary. This was their trip, and they asked us to come along. Mary and I…
Category: Culture
Variations on a Theme
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“Breakfast in Amsterdam” March 3, 2007
Galway on My Mind
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I was juicing an orange this morning when a memory blast of Galway hit me. I didn’t juice any oranges, that I remember, in Galway, or any part of Ireland. I wonder what part of my brain shot me through with a violently lovely blip of those two days a year ago in Ireland. We…
Get on the Bus!
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Or… Where to Find the Best Seat on Earth I really dug Eric Nuzum’s theory on crazy people riding the bus on a new favorite blog, The Prince of Petworth. My pal Cathy lives in this area of Washington D.C. and introduced me to this fab blog about a, at best, up and coming, and…
Oscars 2008 Recap
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Best Way to Make Best Actress “Not There” Every year the Academy changes up the Oscars to try and make better, faster, stronger. It’s the Six Million Dollar Man of television really. Usually one of those tactics is to just drown out the nobodies when they are giving their speeches so that they are forced…
Women’s Genitalia: Cosmo calls it like they see it?
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My good friend Suzanne was kind enough to tell me about the March 2008 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. Besides featuring the talented Rihanna on the cover, it also titallates readers and lures them over to the magazine stand with its usual circus of SEX, SEX, and CHEATING. But that wasn’t what caught my eye and…
High Crimes: The Fate of Mount Everest in an Age of Greed
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I met a photographer for the Hartford Courant, Michael Kodas, at Green Drinks the other night and it turns out he is also the author of this book. High Crimes. I’ve always been skeptical about mountain climbers, especially those who climb places that are truly death-defying. I think this might have something to do with…
For Achievement in Transformer Watching…
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The Oscar nominations were announced today and as I scrolled through the list I have to admit this: it took a LONG time before I got to one I’d seen. Fortunately, I made it to “Achievement in sound editing” category, where I spotted the resounding critical success, Transformers listed. Phew. This was starting to get…
Joyce Carol Oates 1, Professor Buttercup 0
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At the Quick Center in Fairfield yesterday (where I was invited generously by my new buddy Carol), a simple author event became a righteous example of what happens when you are a man-professor of a certain ilk, with certain ideas about the world, and you set your puffed-rice expectations against a heady, hidden genius. I…
In a Crowded Room
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Time holds only the shape you give it. This week, it was pressed thin, squashed against the wall, hot and heavy. It was pressing, but lovely all the same. I am not sure, exactly what I am supposed to do with the time I am given. I only know what when I am busy, the…
Iowa in 2008: The Future is Already Here
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All my friends at The Warrington in England who didn’t know what or where Iowa is (“sounds familiar though”) are getting their quat-annual reminder today as my fair home state makes front page news internationally, including three front pages in the Guardian, The Independent and below the fold featuring McCain in the Tory Times. As…
On the Road Again…
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Or, Christmas… Elsewhere There are two kinds of traveling: have to and will to. Have to Travel Work Family Death Holiday Will To See Experience Chill Activate Interact Note the difference in the etymology of the two? First is static, nominative. The second is active, verbal, a way to BE in the world. We’re traveling…
Do You Close the Bathroom Door Even When You’re the Only One Home?
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Or, A Prelude to How to Have an Existential Crisis I recently was hired to teach two courses next semester. I am thinking about quitting and I haven’t even started yet. In fact, I have pretty much already decided to quit, I just can’t be bothered to get around to it. I’ve decided not to…
Message from the Leaf Pile
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Top 10 Reasons to Read a Blog 10. The blogger is funny, but not funny ha-ha… funny hmmmm. 9. You are bored of internet porn… it is so done! 8. Procrastination is nine-tenths of the law. 7. You hate your boss. Your boss wants you to do something other than browse the internet. You fancy…
The Happiest Terrorist (see new definition)
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After reading a somewhat disturbing account of a poor Japanese tourist on a Connecticut train, I’ve decided, on behalf of all Normal (ie., not bonkers) English speakers everywhere, to reclaim the word “TERROR” and give it a total facelift. New Definition: Terror (n) (trr) : Intense desire to use a pogo stick. Usage: From the…
