It isn't Mardi Gras ... yet. But maybe it's getting there. It's the October-long celebration of everything weird, wild and not-quite-natural that culminates on Halloween in the city of Salem, Massachusetts. And what's the occasion for all this revelry? Well, a bit...
I love public transportation. Lately I don't have many opportunities to use it, but I've always had a fondness for subway trains, buses, trolleys and such. I learned early in life how to navigate the oldest subway system in America, back when the subway cars had...
Bear with me a moment, gentle readers, for it is not my intention to hold forth on things political; there are enough commentators on politics already, actually, more than enough. But allow me to make an observation on a "movement" gathering much media interest in the...
Retard ... not the verb, the noun. It's the latest word proscribed by the Society of People Who Choose to be Offended on Behalf of Others. In fact, it's so offensive, it will no longer be uttered out loud, or written out in print, but will instead undergo the...
— they're getting to be pretty rare. Coffee is so woven into my memory that it can never be just a mere beverage. The simple mug served in the homely roadside diner brings to mind memories of youthful road trips and adventures. Some may extol the mythic allure...
I've never flown Southwest Airlines, and I'm sure I never will. So, it isn't like they've lost a customer. But they just keep perpetrating these horrendous PR debacles that make me put them near the top of my elimination list when choosing an air carrier. For a while...
We're doomed. No kidding. In fact, we're all in so many crosshairs it's a wonder any of us are here at all. For at least a year now I've been fed a steady and authoritative diet of disaster predictions. I've received them in the wee hours of the morning. No, I'm not a...
There's a time-worn adage about buying a used car: It's not the age; it's the mileage. It's a truism I've taken to heart recently after discovering it applies just as aptly to living creatures. We tend to think age equates with powering down life, shedding our...
What's Samantha Smiling About? — Just over 300 years ago twenty people were sent to their deaths in one of the most famous miscarriages of justice in American history. This statue is located just a block away from where those victims were convicted.From the top...
I wasn't at Woodstock. Even with the benefit of hindsight and all the tales that have been told of that legendary mud fest—wholesale casual sex al fresco not being the least of them—I think I would have avoided it. I have an aversion to crowds, even friendly ones. I...