This is another interesting book I’ve heard about, but haven’t read. So, for what it’s worth… “Susan Burton’s world changed in an instant when her five-year-old son was killed by a van driving down their street. Consumed by grief and without access to professional help, Susan self-medicated, becoming addicted first to cocaine, then crack. As
When I was growing up in the 1960s, there was some speculation as to how that era would be remembered. Would it be the Nuclear Age or the Space Age? Now it’s become pretty clear it was actually the Transistor And Birth-Control-Pill Age. I was reminded of this because we’ve recently passed two milestones, according
Some topics just beg to be written about. I found one such topic on New York Magazine’s “The Science of Us” news summary on May 8, 2017. Entitled “How to Predict If a Borrower Will Pay You Back”, it’s actually excerpted from the book EVERYBODY LIES: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can
While driving back from Boston three weeks ago, I happened to listen to a very interesting story about a real pioneer. His name was Paul Revere Williams. Paul R. Williams (as he was known) was born in Los Angeles on February 18, 1894. When he was two years old, his father died; when he was
I’ve been running as a sport since 1980. One thing I’ve learned as a result is not to limit myself; it’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. I’m not the only one who feels that way. The men’s world record for the marathon (26.2 miles) is 2:02:57, set by
I love to eat meat. But having been raised on a farm, I’m acutely aware that we are feasting on fellow mammals. If you feel as I do, you probably won’t want to read this. There is a new book entitled Personalities on the Plate: The Lives & Minds of Animals We Eat by Barbara J. King.
A poem from my book Some Poems About Life, available on this website. On Importance I saw an old friend yesterday. A high school classmate. We had a lot to catch up on. Her’s doing very well, he says. He has a very responsible position. He makes major decisions all the time. People
There’s an unusual way to celebrate Easter in the Washington, D.C. area. The National Zoo hosts a major annual event on Easter Monday, which is an unofficial holiday celebrated by African Americans in D.C. since the 1890s. This event is believed to have started because black housekeepers had to work on Easter Sunday, so they
For anyone out there who loves science, especially astronomy, and is fascinated by the size and diversity of the universe (like I am), Astronomy magazine has released the “27 Best Hubble images on its 27th birthday” (http://astronomy.com/news/2017/04/best-of-hubble-images?spMailingID=28849033&spUserID=NDYyNDk0Mjk0MTgxS0&spJobID=1024146748&spReportId=MTAyNDE0Njc0OAS2). Recall the Hubble space telescope was launched into low Earth orbit on April 24, 1990. With a 2.4-meter
Today was the 2017 Dayton [OH] Book Expo at Sinclair Community College. The publishing business has changed lightyears since I entered it in 1990. Today anyone can get published, so this show was a fascinating assortment of (near as I could tell) about 80 local, self-published authors. There were also seminars on such subjects as
