“My sore throats are always worse than anyone’s.” Jane Austin, timeless observer of human foibles, hit the nail on the head (or should it be the tissue in the hand) when she pointed out that her sore throats were worse than anyone else’s. I think we all feel that way. Today’s featured image is a
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HANDSOME BLOKE CHECKS SUPER BOWL OFF BUCKET LIST
NFL Super Bowl XLVIII is history. Super Bowl 48 – the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Denver Broncos (or should I say, Peyton Manning?) Or, as some say, a diversion from the Bruno Mars Half Time Show. But that’s not today’s story. This is a personal story about a man, a dog, a wife, a daughter,
GODDESS GANGA
There I was, trying to write a scene in my fictionalized biography of the Pandita Ramabai, and failing. At this point in the story, Rama is nine years old. It’s hard to write from a child’s perspective. The family is in Varanasi, the holiest city in India. Pilgrims and tourists daily arrive in great numbers.
SLOW COOKERS, MICROWAVES, & AFTERNOON DELIGHTS
A couple days ago I decided to cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker. Being inordinately pleased with myself, I posted my mundane accomplishment on Facebook. And then posed a question. What did my friends think was the better kitchen appliance – the slow cooker or the microwave? Results at the end of this
KUNG HEE FAT CHOY!
In case you missed the New Year Celebrations on December 31st, you have another opportunity on January 31, day of the lunar new year. Decorate with Red Chinese Lanterns. Gift your friends with red money envelopes. Welcome the Year of the Horse which, according to astrologer Susan Levitt, will be a time of high energy
PURSUING HAPPINESS
In 1988, Bobby McFerrin recorded Don’t Worry, Be Happy and won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance. [McFerrin made all the sounds himself.] Robin Williams and Bill Irwin joined McFerrin on the YouTube video.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU] Crazy, gleeful, unrealistic – but, aside from a warm puppy, isn’t that what happiness
2014 – VIVA LA REVOLUTION!
Seems like the custom of lighting fireworks on New Year’s Eve is global. My son took the photo at right. New Year’s fireworks at Kailua Bay, Hawai`i. These colorful, artificial stars in the sky always make me smile in awe. Americans also have fireworks displays on the 4th of July, anniversary of the signing of
NEW YEAR DREAMS
I’m writing this on December 30 – exactly mid-way between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Time to take a deep breath before rushing to those New Year’s Eve parties – If you aren’t rushing already. Americans, especially the ones involved in retail, are always rushing. I’m picking a bit on retailers, because on Friday
LET US COMMENCE OUR CELEBRATIONS!
Not everyone enjoys December holidays. For every memory of joyful family traditions, there are other memories. Life does not stop – which is why the holidays can never be as perfect as we imagine. Holidays are about the past. They remind us of something important to an individual, family, or group. The month of December
WHY SEND HOLIDAY CARDS?
The year-end holiday season brings joy to children looking forward to school vacation and lots of “stuff.” Adults, drowning in a deluge of tasks, find joyful anticipation transforming into what I call “the season of eating and drinking” – all calorie free, of course. By this time, organized veterans of the season have put up
SONGS OF THE SEASON
For people who like to sing, the Christmas season provides ample opportunities. Many of us had our first experiences as children in nursery school pageants, singing our hearts out to an audience of long suffering parents waiting to see their personal child on the stage. The repertoire usually consisted ( and perhaps it still does)
WHY IS THERE A TREE IN THE LIVING ROOM?
When I was a child – sometime during the first Roosevelt Administration – the annual Christmas Tree was a truly strange thing. All year my mother tenaciously swept anything resembling nature out of the house. Then, without warning, there was a tree in the living room, usually accompanied by muttering about having to pick up
A DANGEROUS SEASON FOR TURKEYS
Once again we have arrived at the official Holiday Season. It is three days until Thanksgiving which this year also marks the first day of Hanukkah – a joint festival that no matter what year you were born, will not recur in our lifetime. In four days we celebrate the annual Black Friday Shopping Extravaganza,
THANKSGIVING & THE FOUR FREEDOMS
Next Thursday Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving. Some will feast with Butterball turkeys; some will go vegan and create turkeys out of tofu. Some folks will skip the turkey and head straight for pie and football. But just for a moment, allow me to take you back to January 6, 1941 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt
CHECKING OUT, CHECKING IN
There is a children’s game to help kids learn geography. It’s called “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?” Carmen leads a gang of nefarious henchmen who hatch various crimes. The “Chief” is hot on her trail with assistance from “gumshoes,” the kids who put together clues to prevent the geographical crime. Carmen herself eludes
NOT ENOUGH TO DO? WRITE A NOVEL
In writer jargon, November is NaNoWriMo. That’s National Novel Writing Month to the rest of us. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of aspiring and even published writers agree that if you want to write that novel – the one you could do better than J.K. Rowling – this is the magical month to get it out of