Avoiding Mob Rule
I’m not going to engage, I say to myself like a mantra. I was in a strange predicament that I’d never before experienced. It was only until I traveled with him in the American South, [...]
Remove Your Rose-Colored Glasses
Have you picked up on people talking in terms of “us” and “them”? During tough times, when a country is in a particularly trying state of affairs, some folks tend to look of a scapegoat. [...]
Our Beautiful Neighbor
Nothing renews one’s faith in capitalism like visiting a communist country. Cuba, for all the praise some foreign visitors heap upon it, is no exception. Certainly you can’t visit the island, as I did recently, [...]
Toes in the Sand, Head in the Clouds
Why am I so captivated by the beach? Sure, you could give balmy beach answers, waxing warmly about sand and summer fun. Instead, I think of stories of my life, love and lessons learned at [...]
Behind His Smile
A folklorist, a cartoonist, a psychologist, a lawyer, a columnist, and an icon of American letters walk into a bar…what happens next is unclear. I know it’s not funny, but then flatulence has amused humankind [...]
His Rescue Cat
Upright Hallmark cards and lasagna-stained paper plates cluttered Grandma’s kitchen table. I pulled up the sleeve of Grandpa’s old gray role then let it fall back upon my arm. Bare feet tapped cold white and [...]
Ironing
Today, I tackled my own ironing. Not much these days, but though it’s an infrequent chore I still put it off to the dry cleaner or housekeeper as much as possible. Once started I got [...]
The Gift of Meditation
Intelligence isn’t equal to development; intelligence has to be developed. Just because you’re smart doesn’t automatically make you a perfect or even brilliant human being. Intelligence is a potential, a capacity, and that capacity need [...]
Nerds Rule
Nerd culture; what does it mean to self-identify as a nerd? What I’m about to write is half lighthearted frivolity and half serious…but really, what are the legitimate descriptors of a true nerd? Everyone can [...]
Political Car Sickness
If you’re, like me, one of the people who ingests news with your morning coffee (or reads those banner headlines that pop up on your phone a hundred or so times a day), you too—whatever [...]
Post, post, post-graduate work
Dear Professor Feingold: I hope this letter finds you well and that you are enjoying your retirement. You aren’t going to remember me, but I was in one of your English literature classes in 1998. [...]
No ordinary enjoyment
I was born in Pennsylvania, a place where potato chips are a food group of their own. We could count on just about any store worth its salt carrying chips; some where thick-cut, some were [...]
