Much of the world remains in the thrall of Covid-19. Not only are loved ones dying and large numbers of people unemployed, but depression is on the rise. To glean positive news from this situation requires contortions of the mind comparable to the physical feats of a performer at
Politicians, celebrities, political groups, influence groups, and the media are doing their best to mess with reality, whatever that is. I ask, why bother? Since science began to study the issue of the blue dress that is simultaneously gold, I’m not sure reality is real anymore. I
Recently, newscasters were making light of Donald Trump’s self-congratulatory response to a dementia test he took, mistaking it for one that measured I. Q. Despite his confusion, I’m happy for him, and for the nation, that he passed. His niece, a clinical psychologist, has alrea
I’ve always taken it for granted though I’ve cursed the long lines that result from staff shortages. Other than have a tooth pulled, I’d do anything to avoid the Post Office. I buy my stamps from the grocery store and mail my packages at a stationery shop around the corner fro
The current Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to numerous conspiracy theories concerning why it happened. Though we know little about the virus as yet, these theories have flourished like toadstools after a sodden rain. Thanks to the internet, they have spread to remote places like Gym
While thumbing through a magazine, I came across writer Anne Tyler’s confession that she feared to concentrate upon a bad idea because it might come about. She holds herself responsible for the coronavirus pandemic, in part, because for some time she’d been praying for an excuse t
Don’t get me wrong. I admire House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She knows how to crack a whip over her Democratic caucus to lead the country forward. The job, I imagine, invites plenty of frown line, but she appears to have gone a tad too far with the Botox in her effort to appear perpetua
Life is interconnected, making sorrow and absurdity cousins. Sometimes that interconnection invites laughter. The reaction might seem perverse but it can also be enlightened. In times of great adversity, if we look, we might see clowns cavorting in the margins of the shadows. The an
If the coronavirus is a hoax, as some preachers claim, I must admire the people who engineered it. Over 30,000 casualties in this country, not to mention the 160,000 deaths worldwide. To accomplish this task takes more staging than one of Andrew Webber’s musicals. So far, no one
As April 23 is William Shakespeare’s birth and death date, being alert to language adaptations inspired by the coronavirus seems appropriate. One group of new words pertain to how the illness has changed our daily lives. A second are words the President has ascribed with new meaning