I call my 97-year-old mother every couple of days. We talk, but the talks have a certain ritual quality. They nearly always begin with her asking me, “How are you and where are you?” Then they segue into old reliable, … Continue reading →
As a child I don’t think I was unusually susceptible to the power of advertising. I wasn’t especially into acquiring goods, either. But there were a couple of things I craved because I’d seen them on TV. They seemed magical, … Continue reading →
The news is out that a way to objectively document a patient’s pain is being developed: A team at Stanford University in California used computer learning software to sort through data generated by brain scans and detect when people were … Continue reading →
It may come as no surprise to you that I’m not a fast-food fan. For me it’s not the principle of the thing: I just don’t like the taste, for the most part. And if a lot of calories are … Continue reading →
I took this test of political orientation (hat tip: Althouse) and the results were no surprise: somewhat to the right, somewhat libertarian. Here were my actual figures, and where I stand on the grid: Economic Left/Right: 1.75 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.92 … Continue reading →
Ronald Brownstein thinks that the recent ten-year stretch—the one that’s been going on since 9/11—is the worst America’s been through since the Civil War and then the Great Depression. I disagree. I think that the decade beginning some time in … Continue reading →
On body perception and the brain: This phenomenon doesn’t surprise me in the least. After my arm surgery, when my right elbow was frozen for a long time, I lost some of the sense that the arm belonged to me. … Continue reading →
The storm hasn’t really been all it was cracked up to be here. But tis enough, twill serve—in other words, there’s a power outage where I live. I’m sitting in a coffee shop right now, plugged into one of the … Continue reading →
This time the heavy hand of improvement falls on Yahoo email. Oh, excuse me—Yahoo! email; we musn’t forget that enthusiastic exclamation point. Yipee, yahoo! This is what we users get for our stalwart loyalty, and not just from Yahoo. Have … Continue reading →
Nowadays nearly every large rest stop and every restaurant, every airport and every theater, features automated bathrooms. It’s all very magical—or at least it seems so, at first. The toilet is timed to flush right after you finish what you’re … Continue reading →
Gerard Vanderleun offers some memories of London, then and now. I’ve got my own memories—although, unlike Vanderleun, I never lived in London. The only time I’ve ever been there was a one-week stay in 1978, accompanied by my then-husband. It … Continue reading →
…and hope for the best. The latest suggestion is that nothing much that you can do matters—although of course it’s best not to off yourself prematurely if you want to reach three figures. One thing that might help would be … Continue reading →