Two of the least effective words in the English language are “ought” and “should” which, when employed, are more likely to annoy rather than influence a person’s behavior.  If “ought’ and “ should” had any clout, obesity would be conquered, along with alcoholism and

A year ago, I made a reference to José Mujica, President of Uruguay — a man described as the world’s poorest president; a man, jailed for 14 years in the 1970s as a revolutionary; a man known world-wide as the humble leader of his people.  Elected to the country’s highest

In February, my mother turned 99.  We celebrated, of course.  There was cake for lunch and cake for dinner, any flavor but it had to include a lemon filling.  The nurses and doctors who care for my mother are amazed at her vitality and wit, not only taking her age into account, but

Feeling sexy or brave?  Maybe your cat is responsible.  Toxoplasma gondil’s, a parasite carried in cat feces has been discovered to alter the brains of rats and mice so that they mistake a cat’s odor for an invitation to romance.   Rodents that don’t run away from their arch

Somewhere in my 50’s I decided to take up painting.  One of my first classes was level 1 drawing. Students were given a Rembrandt etching and asked to copy it.  The purpose of the exercise was to see how observant we were. Finishing the task early, I waited with a certain degree o

A friend sent me an announcement, recently, about a lecture on self-publishing offered by two women purported to be experts.  One of the speakers wrote “epic” medieval fantasies and the other  had authored tips for selling  used books on Amazon.  The latter claimed to have ear

My first novel, Heart Land is about to be republished with a new editor and in a new edition.  The story is about the hyjinx of a  boy, Oliver Larson,  growing up in rural American in 1940, prior to World War 11.  One of Oliver’s favorite hangouts is a bakery known as Ye Old Bak

 March 24th will mark the 6th year of my daily blogging.  I was giving myself a pat on the back the other day, when a reader sent me a blog by Tonni Bennett which specializes on subjects of interest to folks 60 and over ( http://www.timegoesby.net/) .   The article noted that Andr

There’s a classic joke in legal circles about a doctor on trial for malpractice.  The prosecuting attorney reads down a list of 12 men, pausing to ask if each was the doctor’s patient.  Each time, the man admits that each was.  Then  the prosecutor asks,  “And are these men

“Somewhere between plagiarism and homage,” writes Michael Kinsely, “there is a line.” (The Imitation Game,” by Michael Kinsley, Vanity Fair, March 2015, pg. 197)  He raises an important point, and as a blogger who works from source material, I regularly question whether wha