Military Service? Impossible!
When I taught English in Russia in the late 1990’s, my main place of employment was the Tolyatti Pedagogical Institute,…
Devon is Dry
The rains came after a week of heat. Finally. Thank God. Prior to their arrival it was baking and Devon,…
My Cousin in California
On November 9th, two weeks after my cousin in Pittsburgh, in her post-shooting gloom, bowed out of all social media,…
My Cousin in Pittsburgh
On October 29th, two days after a gunman burst into a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa. and shot eleven people dead,…
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
If you’d asked me before the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings how I felt about them, I’d probably have told you I…
Hot, Hot, Hot
You knew it before you got there, knew it if you’re one of those people who checks weather.com before you…
Fathers, Sheisters, and Other New Yorkers Who Shall Not Remain Blameless
A look at the calendar tells me that Father’s Day is here again. Father’s Day these days, other than being…
The Future is Now
If you’d asked me a few years ago, only a few, whether or not I ever read dystopian fiction, I…
Merit Pay, Anyone?
I wasn’t going to weigh in on this because, well, everyone else has, and what am I going to say…
Gina
Rainer Maria Rilke was an Austro-Hungarian writer who was born, wrote, and died a long time ago. He was most…
Wallis, This One’s for You
Finally, some good news for a change. Amidst the debacle of “tax reform” and what appears to be rampant sexual…
The End of the World
In the nearly twenty years I’ve been teaching in the US public schools, I’ve had quite a few kids walk…
Spread the Word
Venice is a city of illusions: illusions of water and light, of time and space, of stillness and movement. Looking…
Persistence
In our elementary school, we start teaching children about character traits in the third grade. We teach them to recognize…
To The Barricade
I never marched in a demonstration before yesterday. I don’t like crowds much, or noise, or commotion. I’m a stay-at-home-with-a-book…
2017: Brace For Impact
At the beginning of the Second World War in Europe, there was a period of time, eight months and one…
Election Week 2016
Last week didn’t begin well. On Monday afternoon, we had to hospitalize our cat, Socrates. He’d been battling pancreatitis at…
Where You Can Put Your Putin
No one could love Russia more than I do. You have to love a country where the cabbie taking you home…
A Little History
They say if you don’t know your history, you’re doomed to repeat it and this certainly seems to be what’s…
A Cruel June
It goes on. Last Sunday morning we woke up to read about yet another mentally ill individual who went out…
Lists
As another year draws to its close and the next one edges near, there seems to be in both the…
Living in America
There are many things I could write about as the dark and confusing year of 2015 draws to its close,…
The Long Walk Across Europe
In December of 1933, a young man set out from England on a great adventure. His intention was to walk…
Living in America
There have been days since my father and mother passed away three-and-a-half years and a year ago respectively when the…
September 11th
And so another anniversary of the September 11th bombing of the World Trade Center has come and gone replete with…
Spanish Flames
As if they needed anything else to go wrong, the country of Spain has this last week been battling yet…
The Pip Squeak Sikh
Several years ago, on the first day of school, a young child was delivered by their mother to the class…
