Recently the College Board chose to make the essay portion of the SAT exam optional. I found myself dumbfounded. Our country's level of education is on the decline. Why remove the essay? We rank about 14th in world in basic skills and don't appear to be improving at all while countries like Estonia and Poland are passing us by. I looked a bit clo …
Whenever someone takes a shot at me and then excuses his or herself by saying " I was just kidding", I respond immediately that my father taught me that nothing is ever said in jest.One must learn that there's always a germ of truth in that "joke"or jestand it is that germ of truth that must concern one's self and must be paid attention to.Words to …
I like to vacation in familiar places. We have a time share in Aruba and, at last count, have been back seven times (plus a few times before we got the time share). Our son and daughter-in-law, Jason and Alyssa have been with us seven times -- and their son, our grandson, Jackson, was with us for the first time (but certainly not last) two week …
I remember when they "buried" the N-word. It was a quaint little ceremony headed up I believe by the illustrious Rev. Al Sharpton (back before he was little more than a giant head on a stick). There really wasn't too much serious objection, after all I don't think there are too many people in favor of using the word these days. There was a part …
According to Facebook I have been a member since 2009. I cannot believe that I have actually been using Facebook for five years because I still feel as if I don’t know what I am doing. There is one Facebook rule I know for sure, never ever ever ever comment on my children’s Facebook pages or that of my nieces and nephews. I am well aware that …
Searching on line not long ago, I found a book on "Modern European History Since 1600" written by Carl Becker. I have been looking for a book by Carl Becker for quite a while, so I bought it on eBay. The book arrived, worn and tattered and with old, yellowing scotch tape holding the table of contents and most of the first fifteen pages in place …
Malaysian flight MH370, as I write this, is still missing after one week and the stories are flying (pun intended:). Hijacked, crashed, aliens...you name it, it's been written and diseminated on the most trusted news source we have - the internet. The search now involves 13 countries and more than 100 ships and aircraft. This morning, the Prime …
Pot hole Bingo: If you drive you play it Salt and plows make it Tires and suspensions hate it How many more weeks to evade it?
Last week Fred blogged about "Menu Management" -- managing the food that his wife Joanne orders. If it turns out that she doesn't like what she ordered, Fred (gladly) switches plates. Flo and I have a similar arrangement at theaters. With few exceptions, Flo usually finds the tallest person in the theater to sit in front of her. And once that pe …
The world is a fascinating place. In the wake of the Academy Awards, a brief debate occurred about Pink's performance of the Judy Garland classic, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". There were opinions decrying the blasphemy of the performance and others who thought the singer brought both talent and heart to her version. This train of thought …
A friend’s dad passed away last week. I didn’t really know him -- but just how special this man was in life was literally brought to life at his funeral. At the risk of sounding morbid, this was the nicest funeral service I have ever attended. It went on for close to 90 minutes with speeches starting from the smallest grandchildren up throug …
A few weeks ago New York Magazine was in the news when it published an essay by Alec Baldwin wherein he gave his reasons as to why he was going to leave New York City. The essay was available on the internet prior to the publication of that week’s issue of the magazine. While my urge to read the essay online was strong, I was easily able to resist …
On vacation, having already gone bike riding, swimming, golfed and played tennis, we decided to try something completely new and different. Skeet shooting. There is a range a mile away where you shoot pigeons. My lifetime experience shooting a gun is filling the clown's mouth with a water gun and blowing up the balloon at a carnival. So I wasn …
"U.S. and Italian researchers tracked thousands of adults during nearly two decades and found that those who ate a diet high in animal proteins during middle age were four times more likely to die of cancer than contemporaries with low-protein diets — a risk factor, if accurate, comparable to smoking. They also were several times more likely to die …
My friend Ennid Berger says, I like to eat almost everything. However, my wife Joanne is far more discriminatingand as the years have gone by I have developed the ability to help her "manage" the menu,i.e., choose something that she will like. Otherwise, if she does not like something she ordered we have to trade plates. I am now thinking of giving …
