I came across an amusing essay by Katie Roiphe, recently, in which she advised the hostess of a dinner party to include single people in the mix. (“Odd One In,” by Katie Roiphe, Town&Country, Feb. 2016, pg. 82,86.) Couples, she insists, “rarely engage in electrifying tal
The image accompanying today’s blog is the work of one of my Facebook friends. I asked if I could share his image with my readers as I admired the fluidity of the brush strokes and their almost mystical innocence. Having studied both Japanese and Chinese painting styles, I appreci
Big changes are afoot at my retirement center in the new year. My Zumba exercise class has been cancelled and though dancing is the least hateful way for me to exercise, I confess I’m happy about it. I loathed the music. What’s more, the tunes stayed with me days after the
In a recent blog (1/1/52016), I wrote about the risky times ahead in the stock market. I said my broker and I had talked about safe havens but found none. For those trying to keep up with the cost of inflation — not the real one which would include medical and drug increases
A reader sent me a blog written by a librarian who, after having a daughter, admits she fell into a “cultural wasteland” where neither books nor movies existed. Eventually, her librarian instincts kicked in, and in 2015 she read 164 books, some with pleasure, some because she thou
When I was 10, I found a land application for 1 square inch of the moon in my Cheerios cereal box. The time was the 1940s, long before John F. Kennedy had a gleam in his eyes to send Neil Armstrong into the stratosphere. As I was fascinated with astronomy, I jumped at the chance t
The philosopher, George Berkeley, famously asked, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Recently, writing about the life of Samuel Steward, author of one successful book and many failed others, Jennifer Senior asks a similar
Okay, the holidays are over and many of us are showing a little regret in the form of a jelly roll around our middles. We know how to get rid of it, providing we are willing to make the effort. Calories in-calories out. Right? Eat less and exercise more? Of course. In the end,
I mentioned in a recent blog that a study in Denmark revealed people active on Facebook were less happy than those who weren’t. (Blog 12/7/2015) I confess some of the messages on social media leave me in despair. Mothers, fathers, children die and beloved pets, too. Divorce
I’m sure I’m a disappointment to my publishers. I don’t buy my books from them then schlep the tomes to every book fair and public watering hole in an effort to get my investment back. I think it is a poor business model for a writer. I prefer Snoopy’s approach in the cart