It's National Penguins Day, an excuse for more smiles, and a repost of one of my favorites.

Maybe I have a thing for height-challenged males in tuxedos. Whatever it is, I’m crazy, nuts, gaga, batty, over-the-moon -- about penguins. And I’ve met quite a few of the 17 varieties.

I’ve… Read full post »

After a week of blazing headlines, the death of Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today and former CEO of Gannett Company, was lost in the back pages.

But it wasn't lost on me. I've followed his long and successful career with special interest, because years ago, when he was… Read full post »

 fluid rock in the shadows of Antelope slot canyon

(see more photos below the narrative)

If I had to choose the most visually stunning experience  I can remember, it well might be my few minutes within Antelope Canyon on a sunny day. 

Antelope Canyon in Arizona is among t… Read full post »

When you are older and in love you go for it.

Bill and I had 10 days and frequent-flyer points, so last minute we decided to return to our favorite city, Paris, to celebrate the Christmas holidays and the New Year. We wanted to feel like Parisians, so we… Read full post »

Host a party (or even better, get invited to one)
Election night, like Oscar night or the Super Bowl, is the kind of communal event that calls for snark, laughs, hoots and hollers to relieve tension. It's also an easy way to pay back invitations without having to cook a sit-down/… Read full post »

I just voted in Florida. A vote that really counts, in more ways than one. 

I recently wrote a post that gave some offbeat reasons to vote for Barack Obama. But especially in light of the recent response to Hurricane Sandy, here are the real reasons I voted for the president,… Read full post »

The election polls remains close, and the five percent or so of undecided voters may make the difference in swing states.

Look, if you’re still on the fence after all the ads and speeches and debates, by now it’s time to climb down and decide, don’tcha think? 

And if… Read full post »

I was thinking about my earliest feelings of sexuality because I'm hooked on the new Sunday PBS series Call the Midwife, set in slummy East-End London in the 1950s.

The series, dealing with many unwanted pregnancies, resonates with me because like many of the characters, I was a teenager in… Read full post »

I'm going to admit something that's hard for me to do, but I want to, for lots of reasons.

I may not look it and I definitely don't feel it, and you may not realize it, but I just turned 70, which makes me old by just about any standards.… Read full post »

Livescience.com

Wearing a monkey suit, I managed to get a second interview with the famed Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay, much in the news right now. The Mystery monkey is still seen around the area, and has become a symbol of freedom to many who will be attending the Republican… Read full post »

Julia Child would have been 100 today. That anniversary, and the movie Julie & Julia, based on a diary blog on Salon much like some of us here write, and my recent trip to Paris where much of this movie is set, reminded me of how huge a role Julia C… Read full post »

Judith Crist, who just died at 90, was an influential movie reviewer for many years. I remember her not just because of her intelligent and cogent take on films, but because of something really special to me: a connection to Woody Allen, and to his movie, Stardust Memories.

I was a young… Read full post »

Bill's sister Chris was recuperating from successful surgery, so we flew up from Florida to meet her at Migis Lodge,  near where she lives in Maine, for a healing weekend reunion.  Come along!

Before getting to the lodge we stopped at a shack on Penob… Read full post »

At the Duct Tape Festival, Avon Ohio 

Summer heat is upon us. Time for some fun!

Last month I traveled to northeastern Ohio -- around Lake Erie. The region is shaking its reputation based on the Cuyohoga river catching fire many years ago. Old images are hard to… Read full post »

I've been alone most of my adult life: a single mom and an empty nester. I was divorced from my high school sweetheart, then dated lots, making loads of mistakes, in search of a man.

And then I calmed down, and later met my dear second husband, who died after… Read full post »

Is there sibling rivalry between my sister Carol and me? Maybe at times when one of us was riding high, but I never felt it as a child because I was seven years older and there was no contest: Mom liked her best.

We didn't really get to know… Read full post »

grandpa as a costumed boy, Vienna, 1870s 

grandma, a girl who crossed the ocean from Germany, alone

My grandparents lived with us throughout my childhood, and I heard their stories of life in "the old country" as I was growing up.&nbs… Read full post »

Nora Ephron, who died of a blood disorder on Tuesday, was just a bit older than I am, and perhaps that's why I followed her brilliant career and her interesting life so… Read full post »

Generally, it’s a couples’ world, and you notice it as you travel the world. But I felt it most vividly years ago when I was dropping my son off at college in upstate New York. Driving back home, I passed The New York State Fair. I had never been… Read full post »