You are a fifth-grade girl who comes home from school to find a doll on your front porch. The doll looks like you, is dressed like you, and there is something about the eyes. Who left it? Why is it here? And what makes this doll so special?
Jim Jenkins is an ace detective who solves the most difficult crimes. Yet he always works alone. Or does he?
Learning how to wiggle your ears is really hard. But you can do it if you keep trying. And if you learn to keep trying, no problem is too big. So if you can wiggle your ears, you can do anything!
Have you seen this week’s Time magazine? The cover story has the provocative title of “Why We’re Losing the Internet to the Culture of Hate” by Joel Stein. Stein usually writes more humorous pieces as “The Awesome Column”. Sometimes his less-serious writing style doesn’t match well with the length of a cover story, but not
If you’ve been watching the Olympics, you may have noticed some athletes engage in certain pre-competition rituals. For example, sprinter Usain Bolt always points to the sky. Why? An article on the Quartz website written by Olivia Goldhill (http://qz.com/757757/athletes-who-wear-lucky-socks-arent-wrong-psychologists-say-superstitions-yield-real-advantages/) tries to answer that question. So much of what athletes undergo is beyond their control, like
As hot as this summer has been, I through it would be appropriate to page homage to the refrigerator. According to The Writer’s Almanac, the first refrigerator was patented in the United States on August 8, 1899. Not that the idea of keeping food cold to preserve it was anything new. Before the ‘fridge, food
I can’t remember when I first heard the phrase “political correctness”. Certainly it has an unfortunate reputation now; I have a friend who equates it with original sin. But if you define it as being appropriate for the circumstances, political correctness goes back a long way. I’ve recently read a “Verbal Energy” column by
One thing I’m learning is that inspiration can come from anywhere. Earlier I had reviewed The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I had initially resisted reading what sounded like a gruesome concept, but found it to be a well-written, engaging story. How does an author develop a plotline like that? It so happens Ms. Collins’
We like to have a positive view of ourselves and our country. But every so often we find something that jars us into rethinking our complacency. I just ran across a review a book with the rather shocking title White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by historian Nancy Isenberg. It proposes
If you haven’t heard, we’re in the peak period for the Perseid meteor shower. The shower was predicted to peak this morning, August 12th, but is continuing on Saturday morning, August 13th. Meteors are visible anywhere on Earth, but came best be seen in the Northern Hemisphere. For more information, visit EarthSky.org at http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower#outburst
As the barricades came down and traffic was restored, Ken, Ellen and I said goodbye to the mile chief. We were off to the nine-mile mark, at the point where the course came back to follow the beach along Ocean Avenue. It was only about a mile and a half away. When we got there,
The women’s marathon had been new territory. We all had been tentative and unsure. But the men’s marathon would be different. Everyone knew exactly what to expect. Also, we would be wide awake. The plan was about the same, only we allowed an extra hour for traffic. We shouldn’t have worried; we arrived at the
Almost immediately, a truck appeared to begin collecting barricades. Traffic was flowing freely again within five minutes. Workmen appeared to reset gates and take down decorations. They would be needed again next Sunday for the Men’s Marathon. The marshals gathered for a round of self-congratulations and to wait for transportation back to the RAND Corporation.
