Category: GOOD NEIGHBORS
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I Love a Happy Ending
Every writer pens a few howlers over the years, but few have sparked as many guffaws as the New York Herald journalist who in 1897 told the world, “The sad news comes from London that Mark Twain is grievously ill and possibly dying. Worse still, we are told that his brilliant intellect is shattered and that he…
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The trouble with distraction … wait, what was I saying?
“This cannoli is absolutely — hey, is that a pigeon?” Some days my train of thought derails with remarkable ease. “Give me your phone.” Earlier this year our young grandniece, who’d just arrived to take a job as a naturalist in Africa, was dumbfounded when a staff member at the lodge insisted she hand over…
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Why Be Kind to Robots?
Rich is dancing on air this week, and it’s easy to understand why. After months of frustrating delays, countless hours online, endless more hours on the phone, and a mind-numbing five-hour paperwork marathon, he has completed a series of welcome purchases. In the words immortalized by the poet Byron, “On with the dance! let joy…
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Surprised by Joy
I’ve been back in the US four months now, and I’m still struggling with sticker shock. Going to the store for a small bag of groceries: $100. Movie tickets: $16. And gasoline: don’t get me started. Ordinarily, gas prices are like the old joke about the weather: everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything…
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Two Weeks Without a Car: Heaven or Hell?
Is it me, or has modern life become eerily similar to an Addams Family episode? Our days are a dizzying mix of horror (“AI Goes Rogue!”), slapstick comedy (“Raccoon Rescued from Mayonnaise Jar”), and mystery (“Where did I park my car?”). As for the Addamses themselves, they were always good company. “Bizarre as we appeared…
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Now That’s Something to Celebrate!
Congratulations! Simply by reading this, you are already pre-celebrating tomorrow’s often-overlooked but super-significant national holiday. Yes, August 5 is Blogger Day in America, and I, for one, am proud to be part of it. August 5 is also national Underwear Day. Coincidence? Or deliberate timing? Many bloggers brag about enjoying a profession (one of all…
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Destination: the Curiosity Center
The new Curiosity Center at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where Rich and I visted old friends including Happy, the 70-foot Haplocanthosaurus delfsi dinosaur, and Balto, once America‘s most famous dog. “Oh my God!” I exclaimed. “What’s happened to Balto?” I was staring, slackjawed, at the sled dog that had earned worldwide acclaim in…
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“Rich, bring me the baseball bat.”
Of all the headlines that nearly made me spit out my morning coffee — and I think you’ll agree there have been plenty lately — the biggest jolt this week was learning that pigeons are being used to help train artificial intelligence. No, the birds are not helping us create homing robots (which would be…
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Look On the Bright Side
I like to think of this blog as the place I get to mix entertaining stories with a dash of travel advice, a few uplifting quotes, and a sprinkling of ideas about navigating these challenging times with grace and humor. But ever since I got back to California, I find myself wallowing in harrowing disaster…
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These two goats walk into a barn…
This week, shocking animal shenanigans left barnyard creatures reeling and caused humans to question their eyesight … and their sanity. “I thought I was crazy,” said farmer Joe Johnson. Kindhearted Joe and his wife, Bridget, live on a small Ohio farm and take in strays: aging livestock, abandoned horses, homeless dogs, feral cats, random chickens.…