▼
Thursday, January 2, 2025

The French Roots of Sinatra's "I Did It My Way"

›
In November 1968, Frank Sinatra told his friend and collaborator Paul Anka that he was tired and ready to give up show business. Sinatra had...
Tuesday, December 31, 2024

"Never Eat With Dirty Hands" Advice I Didn't Follow

›
  In the 10th grade at Stoneham High School near Boston our biology teacher, Sonia Jones, told us "Never eat with dirty hands!" Sh...
1 comment:
Friday, December 27, 2024

For the Sweep of History, Read New Books First

›
Asked about the five books someone should read to get a broad view of the history of the world, the historian Walter Russell Mead said we sh...
Tuesday, December 24, 2024

The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self by Michael Easter

›
In the hopeful world of self-help books the reader is drawn into the possibility of changing her life for the better.  We  could all be thin...
Wednesday, December 18, 2024

"Blindness" by Jose Saramago--terrifying look at society falling apart

›
  Blindness  reached out and grabbed me from the first page.  A very ordinary scene of cars waiting for a traffic introduces the horror to c...
Sunday, December 15, 2024

International Neighborhood Near the Panama Canal

›
  Less than a kilometer from my AirBnb is a short road that connects a residential area with the main bus route to the city.  At one end is ...
Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Two Weeks of Fog Watch: There's No Boredom Like Army Boredom

›
In the spring of 1977, my tank unit, 1st Battalion, 70th Armor, went to Grafenwohr, West Germany, for annual gunnery training.   Tens of tho...