In the last year or two, one way I’ve been coping with depressing news headlines has been to bury myself in “nice soothing murder mysteries.” They somehow seem less frightening than real life. And since I favor mystery series that transport me to another place or time, they’re also educational. Whether modern Venice, southern France, […]
We recently attended a lecture on Long Island shipwrecks at the Mystic Seaport Museum, and took in the related Lego exhibit while we were there. Then we went to a Mystic Schooners baseball game. It struck me that these widely divergent fields of endeavor have all developed phrases to describe easily avoidable mistakes. In tennis […]
Or, actually, in a peanut butter filled chocolate shell. I recently read about a grandson of the founder of Reese’s Cups who is suing Hershey Corporation. He claims the current owners of his grandfather’s brand have changed things and that now the treats are neither actual chocolate nor real peanut butter. As Reese’s Cups […]
I know, I know – could it be more trite? And yet… There’s so much research demonstrating the importance of community, friendships, and loose social networks to health and happiness. Anybody who claims to have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps is forgetting all the kind words, second chances, mentoring and plain old good luck […]
Turns out one of my favorite sayings actually has a name – Hanlon’s Razor. It says “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” An article in The Economist recently recommended using it to squelch the urge for revenge against annoying or deceitful colleagues. Having found that advice to be useful over […]
During our recent visit to New York City, we visited the new-to-us Poster House Museum. This little gem hosted three very impressive and well-explained exhibits of gorgeous old posters. The movie posters were interesting and the national park posters entertaining. The Italian posters were as chilling as they were graphically striking. That exhibit demonstrated how […]
Dick Van Dyke recently celebrated his 100th birthday and the flurry of publicity has been a bit annoying. Everything from mainstream media to people posting that they met him once, all trying to claim a piece of this beloved performer. Nonetheless, some of the insights from interviews with him are useful. Everyone asks, of course, […]
Air travel is much less enjoyable lately – smaller seats, more delays, longer security lines, disgusting food, jets falling out of the sky… I used to love packing efficiently and strolling aboard to sit comfortably in my aisle seat, where I’d have my choice of meals after we left on time. No more. Now I […]
There are undeniably many sources of anxiety in our world today, and reasons to be depressed. It’s one of those laugh or cry situations, and I’d generally rather laugh. But how? A couple of recent articles provided some guidance. Psychology Today talks about purpose in terms of little p versus Big P. People often feel […]
Need a bit of uplifting? Perhaps some useful information about stress management, food, health, or how to focus? Perhaps you’d like a brief diversion by way of travel memories? Or simply something colorful to cheer, soothe or distract you? My blog will do the trick. It’s ostensibly about art, and sometimes I do write about […]
