Cries of alarm, protest and horror rattled New York elites recently when Aby Rosen, the man who owns the Seagram’s building, wanted to remove a wall hanging, originally a ballet theater backdrop, purportedly painted by Pablo Picasso.  The performance ended, the hanging landed as a

Tonight is Halloween so it’s time for a scary tale. But this one isn’t about ghosts and goblins.  It’s a tale far more horrible.  It’s about a feminine myth that has kept women from reaching their full potential.   We start with Hysteria, the Greek word for muse.  Literal

Who knew?  Among the government’s millions of documents, the CIA has a style guide to help agents write better reports.   Apparently the MLA Style Sheet isn’t good enough for the spooks, so it’s invented its own.  I’m not surprised.  They’ve bent the language before (Bl

When I was a child and did something my father thought was stupid, he’d shake his head and say, “Must be something in the water.”  He said it countless times before I was old enough to drink wine instead of water so his words never left me. I’m inclined to revive them again a

While having lunch with a friend, I expressed  frustration in my attempt to obtain a permit from the city that would allow a moving van to park in front of my house. The commission staffers  overseeing the traffic department had no idea which division handled permits and so I stumbl

Each year when the time comes to renew my subscription to More Magazine, I equivocate.  At 78, I’m too old to care about mascara that will make my eyelashes grow.  I have naked, Mona Lisa eyes.  I don’t mind.  I no longer wish to paint a face “to meet the faces I shall meet.

Language is so wonderfully malleable.  It can do almost anything except my dishes.  Take Lewis Carroll’s, The Jaberwocky, for example.  This tale about a fearsome beast is funny,  not because of what the words say, but because of how they sound. “His vorpal blade went snicker

By now, everyone is so familiar with genetic engineering that if we read some scientist had crossed an octopus with a watermelon to create a waterpus, we wouldn’t blink.  We’d accept it because we’re already familiar with genetically altered tomatoes that look great but tastes

Look out internet shoppers, two electronic systems  called “dynamic pricing,” and “differential pricing,” are stalking you.  Dynamic pricing is the program retailers use to adjust to supply and demand.  Airlines determine fares with it, for example, and so do hotels.  The

A blog reader wrote to thank me for sharing the latest PEW Research Center’s survey about Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations. In the main, the attitudes expressed there were similar to those found in the PEN survey I discussed earlier. (Bog 12/2/13)  Snowden’s revelations about t