Who says cooking is complicated? Locate a half-full jar of marshmallow cream in the back of your pantry. If you have only a full far, ask your wife to make a half batch of fudge. Put said jar of marshmallow cream in the microwave. Nuke for 15-20 seconds, depending on your clean-up capabilities. Into the… Continue reading Snack Tip
My Idea for a “Taken” Sequel
So, we took in a matinée showing of Taken today, and as we walked out of the theater I bounced this idea off MLB. “They need to pair up Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills with Bruce Willis’s John McClain and have them be dads who volunteer to be chaperones on a high school trip in order… Continue reading My Idea for a “Taken” Sequel
Random Thoughts On Inauguration Day
We rejoice today, for at long last, the fires of Mordor have been quenched, and the evil intentions of The Empire have been thwarted. How bright is that light that signals a new dawn, where Jupiter has finally aligned with Mars, and Starbucks lattes, thick with the foam of freedom, are but one thin dime,… Continue reading Random Thoughts On Inauguration Day
Book Review: “The Metamorphosis”
When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. Thus begins Franz Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis, as translated from the original German by Stanley Corngold. The rest of the story is spent describing the remainder of Gregor’s short and painful existence as a… Continue reading Book Review: “The Metamorphosis”
Book Review: “Wandering Stars”
Avid science fiction readers are familiar with several common themes: good-humored adaptation to inhospitable conditions by people who didn’t ask to be there; unfamiliar languages, customs, and alien or inscrutable jargon; the guiding, intervention, or oversight by unseen-but-powerful forces and/or beings; and the triumph against insurmountable odds by those armed with little more than intelligence… Continue reading Book Review: “Wandering Stars”
Farewell to Abbye
Abbye took her last breath today, bringing to an end a life that was harder than she deserved. After battling through almost three years of diabetes (two daily insulin shots) and Cushing’s Disease (regular doses of a powerful anti-cancer medication), her little heart finally gave out. I wish I could say that she was the… Continue reading Farewell to Abbye
Book Reviews: “Patriotic Grace” and “Jim the Boy”
I took a break from exploring for forgotten gems in our home library and read two new (to me) books a couple of weekends ago. Peggy Noonan’s Patriotic Grace: What It Is and Why We Need It Now (published earlier this month) and Tony Earley’s Jim the Boy (published in 2001) are both short, quick-reading… Continue reading Book Reviews: “Patriotic Grace” and “Jim the Boy”
Book Review: “Proust and the Squid”
…the goal of reading is to go beyond the author’s ideas to thoughts that are increasingly autonomous, transformative, and ultimately independent of the written text. … The experience of reading is not so much an end in itself as it is our best vehicle to a transformed mind, and, literally and figuratively, to a changed… Continue reading Book Review: “Proust and the Squid”
Jason Polan: The Art of Texas Law
I don’t remember how I stumbled across it, but The 20×200 Blog is a fascinating showcase for a wide variety of artists. If you like what you see, you can buy the artwork for a fixed price of $20, $200, or $2,000, depending on the size of the piece. Anyway, one of the posts that… Continue reading Jason Polan: The Art of Texas Law
Book Review: “The Road”
In his devilish little book called A Reader’s Manifesto: An Attack on the Growing Pretentiousness in American Literary Prose (reviewed in these pages in 2006), B.R. Myers devotes an entire chapter to Pulitzer prize winner Cormac McCarthy, calling his prose unspeakable in every sense of the word. That and similar pronouncements were at the front… Continue reading Book Review: “The Road”