This is not a commentary on the events in the Middle East (but Lord knows there is plenty to comment on.) This is my last installment about going to six different religious services - these two have had a tumultuous history with each other - oops, I believe that was… Read full post »

One of my favorite items on my bucket list was to go to six different religious services that I don’t know much about.  On a bright Sunday morning I went to two Christian churches that were all about volume.

A Quaker Meeting  

I grew up in Pennsylvania/… Read full post »

Chaos theory is alive and well inside one of my closets. Invisible forces cause things to disassemble or mysterious multiply in there. A baffling process, almost like cell division, has a special affinity for loose photographs. I have not had a roll of film developed in nine/… Read full post »

On Tuesday, Norah O'Donnall  reported on the economic impact of the disaster in Japan. Among Japan's corporate woes, Toshiba has halted production of flash memory chips for the ipad 2 and some video games. Norah seemed to suggest that we Americans will be mightily put out by this/… Read full post »

What informs our opinions about: unions, teachers, and teachers’ unions?

UNIONS

• If you’ve read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, you know why  labor unions (and meat inspectors) were needed back then.  Or maybe you’ve seen sepia pictures from the early 1900s of little boys
  
  
… Read full post »

Something has to be REALLY funny to make you laugh out loud when you're all by yourself. These books exceeded that criteria several times. And at least once, they extracted tears of hysteria and an inability to stop. 

My bucket list includes volunteering with Habitat for Humanity (HFH) for six days. Building houses always makes me feel powerful, especially if I get near the power saws. But some recent health glitches and a decline in stamina meant that I could maybe hammer and haul for two/… Read full post »

One of my favorite items on my bucket list was to go to six different religious services that I didn’t know much about. About two weeks ago, I thought I better get busy on this one, since the deadline for the list is on March 6. And I must say, I'm… Read full post »

On my 59th birthday I decided to come up with a 60-item bucket list and have everything checked off by the time I turn 60 – on March 6, 2011.  

A few adjustments were made along the way and if I don't sleep at all this week, I… Read full post »

The tale of how my son met his girl is emblematic of Jon’s life. But wait, I need to go a little further back. One evening, when Jon was a junior in high school, we were sitting around the dinner table talking to him about college. He was/… Read full post »

I went to a gun show because of the bucket list. My friend Connie kindly came along. If she went with me to a Tea Party meeting, she could do a gun show too. Connie will soon to join the ranks of retired school principals (like me) and is also politically/… Read full post »

My bucket list includes going to six new places. I had exotic destinations in mind when I started this, but, with only five weeks remaining, I decided to make an adjustment using this sentence:

“I’ll go to a __(Tea Party Meeting)__ when pigs fly.”

 … Read full post »

Like many, I watched the Golden Globes tonight, hosted by Rickie Gervais.  I know Gervais primarily through The Daily Show where he and Jon Stewart play off each other well. He’s a lazar-sharp comedian who, I thought, was a good choice to host the Golden Globes.

Gervais/… Read full post »

What if Christina’s picture were on the desk of every adult who affects our country's  democracy and public discourse? What if we looked Christina in the eye everyday as we did our work?  

President Barack Obam… Read full post »

 ^{AP Photo} 

On Saturday, we took it in: a Congresswoman shot through the head, twenty people injured and six dead: a nine-year old girl, a federal judge, a young staffer. The judge, John Roll, came to the event from mass; the Congresswoman’s staffer, Gabe Zimmerman, was engage/… Read full post »

 It was the Christmas of my shame; it was the Christmas of coal in my stocking. I was five and devastated because I had been extra good the whole week before Christmas. The age of reason was still a few years away but I was getting an uneasy feeling about… Read full post »

There has never been a drink that starts out so rough and ends up so smooth. Like going from Detroit to Milan.  You can expect an ‘alcohol shiver’ with the first sip but each subsequent nip is an even glide towards an amiable contentment. And unlike any other drink I/… Read full post »

Lauren was 13 when she ‘informed’ me that she was keeping it.  The ‘it’ was the tiny black puppy in her purse. She had traded her Further Festival concert ticket for the dog. Since I had been reassured by Eryn’s mother… Read full post »

take a deep breath....

relax your shoulders...

turn off msnbc...

and watch.

 … Read full post »

Chart from The Economic Populist

Do U.S. companies have a hidden agenda for not hiring while they sit on huge profits?

What I know about the ups and downs of the economy is limited to shopping the sales for something I want/… Read full post »

Stories of medical conquests are always complicated with competing interests, ideologies and, above all, amazing triumphs that save us all. These are four of the best.

This book will make you feel bad about yourself, but in a good way.… Read full post »

       LIES MY KIDS TOLD

#1

"Trust me."

Means

Whatever just came out of my mouth is a complete fabrication.

#2

"I'm studying my ASS off."

Means

I haven't done a thing all semester… Read full post »

 A really good memoir can make me feel bad about myself. Some people can overcome horrific events and I can't keep commitment to go for a walk everyday. Other memoirs are clear definitions of resilience and show us what courage looks like. These four memoirs are the best I've… Read full post »

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark and maybe the state ofArizona too. Last week, Cindy McCain appeared in a TV ad  for the NOH8 campaign, a group that opposes California's Proposition 8 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage. The ad focused on the prevalence/… Read full post »