I noticed that there’s a proposal to ban the n-word in Boston public schools: “The critical thing is making sure the students understand that we want to do this with them and that this is not about punishing them,” said … Continue reading →
Only two days left, but still worth celebrating. I’ve always had a certain devotion to caramel. But ever since the dread hand of chocolate-induced migraine descended on me several decades ago, and chocolate became a distant, poignant, and beautiful but … Continue reading →
[NOTE: This is a slightly-edited repeat of a post from 2008.] No doubt all of my readers, being unusually well-informed people, were already aware that today is National Candy Corn Day. But did you know it is estimated that in … Continue reading →
…that Democrats thought Republicans were evil and Republicans thought Democrats were stupid. Remember the old saying? But on the comments thread from the Hillary mendacity post, beginning around here, it’s clear that at least some people have now graduated to … Continue reading →
In the past couple of days I’ve taken some time to drive around New England photographing the fall. I had thought this would be a less colorful fall than usual because of the dry weather we’ve had. But when it … Continue reading →
As a former sufferer from fairly severe chronic pain, news such as this interests me: Joe Grewal, the first human to be fitted with a permanent implant, said he has suffered chronic back pain for more than 30 years and … Continue reading →
I went apple-picking this weekend. It’s easy to do—just drive about 15 minutes, go to the pick-your-own orchard, buy one of their little bags, walk out on a lovely fall day to where the trees are, and begin. The trees … Continue reading →
[NOTE: This is a post that originally appeared in 2008. I came across it today while responding to a comment, and I thought it worth repeating.] As a child who loved poetry, I memorized it almost without intending to. Just … Continue reading →
Yesterday I read this article by John Hinderaker at Powerline: During our previous wave of mass immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, both immigrants and American officials understood that assimilation into American culture, most importantly learning to … Continue reading →
I’m not all that fond of precious jewels. That’s very fortunate, because I don’t own many. Richard Burton would have gotten off easy with me. When I got married, I wore a plain gold wedding ring, one that had been … Continue reading →
I’ve been going through some old papers and trying to get rid of a lot of them. Sometimes I even succeed in throwing something out. But some things need saving. Sometimes I come across notes I made about incidents I’d … Continue reading →
Commenter “Phil D” has some questions and observations [I’ve corrected one typo in the following]: When exactly did we lose the “courage to see things as they are”? When FDR recognized the USSR in 1933, just after that regime murdered … Continue reading →