I have reached a certain dental age, the point at which every visit to the dentist seems to elicit some bad news. Even something as innocuous as a tooth-cleaning—which I had the other day—sparks a pronouncement that more work is … Continue reading →
I’ve had a smart phone for about a month. I have no doubt it’s highly intelligent. It can get online in an instant, locate me in time and space much better than I can, and tell me what restaurants are … Continue reading →
I recall a performance of the Moiseyev Dance Company’s “Partisans” as the single most exciting theatrical experience of my life. It occurred back when I was a little kid and the company was on its very first visit here. A … Continue reading →
Recently I saw a depressing article in the NY Times about the decline of the telephone conversation. And the comments were even sadder. It seems the phone is going the way of the dodo and the calling card. People would … Continue reading →
Yesterday I was in New York visiting my 97-year-old mother at the assisted living facility where she’s lived for the past four years. My mother has been looking thinner lately. Her broken hip and surgery last fall took a bit … Continue reading →
I’ve been blogging now for six years. Six long years under the moniker “neo-neocon.” And I was thinking the other day about whether I can really lay claim to the prefix “neo” any more. After all, am I really still … Continue reading →
Take a look at this photo of dancer Isadora Duncan and see how powerful it is. I challenge you to find anything remotely like it in a contemporary dancer. But then, Duncan was sui generis even in her time, or … Continue reading →
One of the Hollywood icons of my youth, Jane Russell, has died at 89. Russell was by all reports that rarity in the movie world: down-to-earth, level-headed, Republican, and religious. I was taken with her when I was a child … Continue reading →
Yesterday I took on the chore of trying to tidy up and streamline my filing cabinets. Not one of my favorite activities. But in a way it is—at least the fantasy I have regarding how the files will end up. … Continue reading →
Susan Jacoby has a lot of relatives who lived to be old. Mega-old, in fact. And, from what she’s seen of the debilities of extreme old age, she doesn’t much like the prospect of getting there herself. Oh, it’s okay … Continue reading →
I’d never been to one before—you know, one of those concerts that specializes in 60s music. And I probably wouldn’t have gone to this one had it not been free. But there I was, standing because all the seats were … Continue reading →
Here it comes again, the day it’s obligatory to have a rollicking good time. Why, I’m not so sure. Perhaps because the passage of the years can be depressing, especially after the age of forty or so. Or perhaps it’s … Continue reading →