Years ago, while having a friendly discussion with a psychologist, I reached across the coffee table to pat his hand. He’d said something amusing and my reaction had been automatic. “You know what’ve you done?” he said, when I’d settled back in my chair. “You’ve anchored

One summer, between my freshman and sophomore year of college, I worked in a bank — a bank vault to be exact. I had three duties. I allowed people access to their safe deposit boxes. I filed historical records. And daily, I read the obituaries in the city’s two newspapers. My

I have in my mind an idea for a short memoir about my three-and-a- half years abroad.  During that time, I taught everything from biology to the American Revolution in English schools, one in the Midlands and the other in Essex. Holidays brimmed with foreign adventure until I cam

Walking back from the park the other day, I came upon a manifesto of sorts, typed in single space and nailed to a telephone pole. The message declared that no one should remain silent while another was persecuted for the color of his skin or his impoverished condition.  Evil, the

“Casting couch,” is a phrase that’s been floating around Hollywood for decades.  A casting couch is where a comely actress drops her dress in exchange for a role in a movie.  My mother, a ringer for Hedy Lamar, did a few laps around that couch before giving up her drea

I confess I’m a fan of the television series, Big Bang Theory.  The 30 minute program centers on scientists who are captivated by comic book heroes.  Sexual gags aside, the program exudes a childlike innocence, not dissimilar, I suppose, from the curiosity a scientist feel

I wrote recently about khatatna in the United States, the practice of slicing a girl’s gentiles, behavior common in the Middle East.  (Blog 6/30/17)  Though a cultural ritual, it has no place in the United States.  Perpetrators should be caught and punished.  Kha

An employee at my retirement center belongs to a religion that prohibits men and women from touching one another unless they are family members.  I was warned of the taboo through the grapevine not as official written policy.  Still, I have respected the stricture, though I  balk a

It was a dark and stormy night…. Well, it was a sunny afternoon, actually.  I was browsing  through publishers’ listings for a short story I wanted to sell.  That’s when I saw a  call for original, but previously published, fairy tales.  Not what I was looking for, but I’

I had a long and convoluted conversation with my stock broker this morning.  Times are volatile for the market and for the world, and so we bent our heads together to examine ways to preserve capital.  In the end, we concluded no place was safe.  Putting money in a bank, bonds or i