Category: Is Less More?

Questions of the earth and environment meet questions of the universe. And such.

But No One Got Me a Snuggie

My 39th Birthday, Condensed As most of you know by now, I LOVE birthday month. I am having a great birthday this year. Here are some of the highlights! My parents called me at 6 a.m. and sang “happy birthday” in unison. They also (I am sure this wasn’t planned) both said “Happy birthday dear…

American Things I Love: Stacy and Bryan

Or, The Continuing Saga of the Toast Rack In a new series I am offering, English Things I Miss, I recently I opined about the great mystery of the toast rack. A mainstay of the British Bed and Breakfast, I found this piece of kitchenware a great and strange object. It is one of the…

Diametric Adoration

In the middle of my procrastination/break from grading, I visited my email and Google reader and found good stuff from two different women in my life… oh they make me SO crazy! First, there’s HEATHER! Heather the green wonder-mama, now appearing in ANOTHER feature near you! I’ve done some freelance work for Heather, so she’s…

Of Old Wood and Hands Made

Our Farm Table, by David Ellison of Lorimer Antiques We recently had our “new” dining room table delivered to us. It was the last piece of the renovation puzzle in our “green” family room.  It really is green… the walls are not only painted green, but were painted with low VOC paint (low harmful fumes)…

How We Love Long Beach

If anyone is wondering what I was doing on election day, have a look at this photo… This is LONG BEACH, an image taken from the air a few years ago, of one of the beaches owned by my town, Stratford, CT. On election day–all but about two hours, anyway–I spent the day at Wilcoxson…

Yes We Can… Now We MUST!

Let’s enjoy today. To bask in the warmth of the light of change. Let’s enjoy the fruits of our hard work and watch CNN until our eyeballs fall out. Let’s scan the world’s papers to see ourselves, admired through others’ eyes. Let’s hold hands and sing, and high five, and, especially when the cameras are…

The Smell of Mums

My Romanian dentist gave me a bouquet of pink mums today! Why would a dentist do that? I was admiring the vase of flowers on her front desk and she said “Would like like some to take home?” I blustered and said “Oh no really, I couldn’t” but she took me directly outside, to her backyard…

The Air Up There

How to Act Like an Elitist Although I do like to rant, I try not to “talk politics” around this space. This has to do with my fear of “alienating” people. Let’s face it, not that many people read this blog! I can’t take any chances! But I am fired up! Read on! Sam Harris,…

WSHU – A “Very Special Fundraiser”

Interrupting my A.M. snoozing time/Morning Edition listening hour this morning was Kate Remington of WSHU’s classical music morning telling me that she’d gotten to work early this morning for “a very special fundraiser.” Memorial Day weekend marked our one year anniversary back in the U.S., our return to National Public Radio. I love NPR. I…

The Most Perfect Handbag in the World

Or, What to Buy A Woman, Any Woman and She’ll Like it, I Swear If you are madly last-minute shopping for ANY woman in your life, just save yourself the hassle and buy this bag from Changehandbags.com. At 50 bucks (now don’t wince… you’re up against it, brother) it’s pricier than a pair of earrings…

21st Century Tips to Holiday Office Parties

Maybe I wouldn’t have been so inspired to write this if I hadn’t been rebuffed by UBS, my husband’s workplace, two years in a row now. UBS, that beloved multinational banking behemoth, which hit Working Mother’s Top 10 again this year for super companies to work for, hosts mammoth holiday parties every year for their…